The Riley Evans Trilogy: Part 1 The Other
by Emeria-Cori
Summary: In this first installment of the exciting and heartfelt Riley Evans Trilogy, Harry Potter and his friends welcome Harry's newfound cousin, Riley Evans, to Hogwarts. They are in for many laughs, tears, and adventures as they tackle fifth year! My 1st fic!
1. The Unexpected Guest

"Hello, how are you doing? Haven't seen you in a while Tracey," Uncle Vernon said cheerfully to someone at the door. It was dinner at the Dursley's and almost nothing interrupted a meal, but whoever was at the door must have been important. Harry tried to peek at the door, but Dudley always interrupted him with a chore. "I want more bacon", or "Orange juice Harry, quickly". Every morning seemed to be the same, and every morning Harry obeyed his rather large cousin. The door made a clicking sound when it shut, and everyone in the kitchen looked up at the doorway.

"Oh hello dear," Aunt Petunia squealed to the pretty girl in the doorway. The girl smiled warmly and gazed around the bright yellow room. Harry stared blankly at his cousin, observing every single characteristic of her he could. She had brown hair with natural, blond highlights streaked through the front, and she had pretty medium blue eyes. She soon turned away from her horse-like aunt and allowed her eyes to wander to Harry. She searched him from his worn out shoes to his messy jet-black hair. She looked at Dudley with disgust, and then looked right back to Harry.

"Hello cousin, I don't believe I've ever met you before." She reached out her hand for Harry to shake it. He did.

"Harry," Uncle Vernon said, "This is your cousin Riley, she is your mother's sister's daughter."

"I didn't know I had another cousin"

"Well you do boy so treat her with respect," Uncle Vernon shouted. As he explained everything to Riley about where she was going to sleep, and what rules there were in the house Harry kept staring at the girl. _I didn't know my mother had another sister_,Harry thought. He thought his brain was about to burst. Nothing seemed right to him, and he just realized that Riley was tapping him on the shoulder.

"We have to go up to your room, that's where I'm sleeping."

"Okay, well let's go," Harry replied. They ran to his room, and Riley started to look around as Harry was unpacking her things. She took her quilt and pillow away from him and laid them on the floor.

"You don't have to sleep on the floor Riley," Harry told her. She ignored him then looked at the Quidditch poster above his bed.

" What's that sport?"

" Oh it's nothing."

"Wow you have an owl! I love owls, but my mother never let me get one!"

"That's nice Riley, " Harry muttered, starting to become annoyed with her.

"Wow, look at that!"

"Don't touch that!" Harry shouted as Riley opened his scrapbook, that held the picture of him with his parents. Everything that was magical had to be put away, so Harry pushed Riley out of the room and put it all away. When Riley came back in she looked around again and asked where the poster was.

"No where, I just thought I would redecorate, because we have a guest," he answered. Harry could tell that it was going to be a long summer.


	2. A Wonderful Birthday Present

After a month of Riley's never ending questions Harry decided to ignore her. She seemed to be especially interested in Hedwig. Whenever Harry walked into his room, Riley would be there trying to open the locked cage. Hedwig loved the attention, but Harry just wanted to take out his wand and cast a spell on her. One that would shut her up Unfortunately he couldn't, and he knew that he would get into big trouble with the ministry if he did. Harry did learn that Riley was nothing like the Dursleys. In fact Riley seemed to love having Harry around. The Dursleys realized that quick and began to treat Harry with more respect then ever before. Whenever Harry got a letter from Hermione or Ron he had to hide it before reading it. Even a cat wasn't as curious and as Riley proved to be, so Harry had to work hard to hide things from her. Even though he was being treated better by the Dursleys Harry still wanted Riley to go, or at least stay out of his business.

The day before Harry's birthday had finally come and he was worried about his friends. Neither Ron nor Hermione had sent him a birthday card or a birthday present. Riley seemed to sense that something was wrong, and tried as hard as she could to find out what it was.

"Come on Harry I know _something_ is wrong. If you could just tell me…"

"No Riley. I told you before there is nothing wrong with me."

"I know you're lying to me!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

No matter how many times Harry told her nothing was wrong she kept insisting something was.

"I will find out what is wrong! I can read your mind! I can Harry, I can!"

"Sure," Harry responded. Harry wondered what was wrong just as much as Riley. He didn't find out until the next day.

Harry's fifteenth birthday had arrived and as usual the Dursleys didn't remember. Riley insisted that she help with breakfast that morning, and she also washed the dishes. Harry had just walked out of the kitchen when the doorbell rang. He ran to the door and opened it, expecting it to be the mailman, but it wasn't. It was Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Harry's jaw dropped at the sight of them, he didn't know what to say. Someone knew what to say.

"Hi Harry," Hermione said to Harry. Ron hugged Harry and handed him his present.

"Hi Hermione, what are you…"

"Hermione, Hermione Granger!" Harry was cut off by Riley's voice. Hermione smiled as Riley ran to the door

"Riley Evans! What are _you_ doing here?" Hermione said to Riley.

"What are_ you _doing here?" Riley responded. They both squealed in their girlish voices and hugged, completely ignoring the boys. Ron and Harry just stood there watching the two girls start talking. Finally Ron interrupted them.

"How do you two know each other, and who are you?" He motioned to Riley.

"No, the right question is who are _you_!" Uncle Vernon stepped into the already crowded hallway. Everyone went quiet. Hermione stepped closer to Riley and Ron took a step back.

"This is Hermione Granger and…" Riley said looking at Ron.

"Ron Weasley," Ron said, trying not to look at Uncle Vernon. Uncle Vernon's face turned a dark shade of purple and he took a large step toward Ron. Ron took another step back and gulped.

"Hermione is my friend Uncle Vernon and Ron is Harry's friend," Riley told him calmly, "They came to visit. Please let them stay!"

"Fine!" Uncle Vernon stomped back in to the kitchen and slammed the door shut. Once everyone got over the shock of what had just happened in the last two minutes, they all went up to Harry's room. After all Ron and Hermione's stuff had been moved in the room got cramped. There was hardly room for walking. All of them sat on the floor in a circle and Riley started to explain where she and Hermione had met.

"Well I had a dentist appointment and I walked into the dentist office and saw Hermione sitting there. I sat next to her and asked her what she was in for. She said that her parents were dentists and that she was waiting for them to finish with their last patients. We started to talk and we got to be friends. I never thought I would see her again, until now of course!"

"I never thought I would see you again either," Hermione said smiling.

"Well back to my important question, why are you here," Ron asked Riley. Hermione gave Ron a warning glance and then leaned in closer to hear.

"Well I am Harry's cousin; I came to visit the Dursleys. This was the first time I had met Harry though. He never came to any family reunions." Hermione looked at Harry with a shocked expression. Ron just started looking around, even though the room hadn't changed a bit since the last time he had been in it.

"Harry where is your Quidd…" Ron began then stopped because both Hermione and Harry were giving him warning looks. He then started playing with Hedwig.

"Why does everyone love my owl?" Harry screamed. Ron looked up at him then came back and sat down. They started talking about their summers so far. Riley told Ron and Hermione she had been at Harry's house all summer. Ron said he had been at the Burrow for most of the summer and then he went to Romania to visit Charlie. Hermione said she had just been with her family and they went on vacation in early July.

"Did you go to see Viktor? I wouldn't be surprised," Ron whispered frowning.

"No, as a matter of fact I didn't!" Hermione snapped. Both Harry and Riley looked between the two frowning faces, then Riley spoke.

"Wow! Hermione you have a _boyfriend_," Riley shrieked. At the sound of that Ron stood up and said he had to go to the bathroom. He walked out the door and Harry followed him. Before he left he saw Hermione's sad face and Riley smiling. They were different people, with different personalities, all in the same house. Harry knew it would be tough, but he knew they all could get along…or at least _tolerate_ each other.


	3. Ohmygosh!

The next two weeks went by fast and to Harry's relief Ron and Hermione were getting along very well. Riley didn't trust Ron. She kept giving him mean glares and just kept looking at him weirdly. The Dursley's were being quite strange, they didn't seem happy that Ron and Hermione were there, but they didn't seem to unhappy. Ron was loving looking around the house and neighborhood. Everything about the muggles seemed to interest him. He had tried to use the phone once, but Uncle Vernon had found him screaming into the phone. When Uncle Vernon asked who was speaking on the other end, a screaming voice emerged.

"What are you doing calling me at 2:00AM? I have a baby trying to sleep and I would appreciate if you wouldn't keep yelling at me!" the voice screamed. It turned out that Ron had called someone in America who had just had a baby a month before. The baby also hadn't gone to sleep for a whole night before that one night. Harry thought it was rather funny, but Hermione thought differently.

"That poor mother had just had a baby! She hadn't had any sleep for the last month Ron! What were you thinking?" Riley on the other hand seemed to be curious how Ron did not know how to use a telephone.

"Your friend can't use a telephone Harry, I am so sorry but I think that that boy is very strange." Harry warned Ron to act as normal as he could, but Ron was confused.

"I'm not acting normal?" Ron said to Harry.

"Well yes, but I mean muggle normal. You almost told Riley about Hogwarts and Diagon Alley, you need to be more careful." Harry told him. Hermione was much better at acting like a muggle. It made sense because her parents were muggles.

"Come on all of you it is time to go shopping for school supplies." Aunt Petunia told all of them. Hermione gave Ron a warning look when he tried to tell them that he didn't need any school supplies. Riley just looked at him strangely.

When they got to the supplies store Dudley ran around throwing everything into the basket. Riley started talking to Hermione about her old school.

"My old school, I'm going to a new one this year, had seven grades of children. It was so huge! Every bathroom was five to ten minutes apart if you can imagine that." Hermione nodded as Riley just kept talking. Then Riley asked Ron something he wasn't ready to answer.

"So Ron, what is your school like?" She looked at him as though expecting something strange to happen.

"Um, it's okay, um…" Ron replied. Then Hermione stepped in.

"Our school is great. All the walls are blue and it is so huge. We have five bathrooms on each floor, it's so big. I'm sure Ron wouldn't mind if I told you that he has been in every boy's bathroom plus one more," Hermione giggle, "He has also been in one of the girl's bathrooms."

Ron's mouth dropped open, along with Harry's. Riley and Hermione started laughing, so loudly that everyone in the store turned and looked at them. Dudley came over looking furious.

"What are you so happy about? Riley aren't you going to buy anything?" he asked. Riley just looked at Dudley for a moment and then spoke.

"Unlike you Dudley I don't have any money on me right now, and I am buying my stuff later" she shouted, and then she stomped out of the store.

"I'll go cheer her up," Ron said happily, he ran out too. Hermione looked out the doors, as if trying to see what was going on. When Ron and Riley hadn't come in after ten minutes, Hermione rushed out to the car. Harry kept looking around at the different supplies. His school supplies were much different, but kind of the same. Suddenly he heard yelling, and ran out the double doors. Ron had just stepped out of the car and was pointing his finger at Hermione.

"I want to sit next to Riley! We haven't really had time to become friends! Anyway she wants to sit next to me Hermione, not you or Harry, me!"

"I want to sit next to Riley. We have been friends for a while and I'm sure she would much rather sit next to me!" Hermione screamed back. Hermione and Ron had been in many fights before, but Ron looked like he wanted to slap Hermione across the face.

"What is going on?" Uncle Vernon screamed to everyone, "If no one is going to tell me just get the car!" They did as they were told. The order they sat in was Dudley, then Riley, then Ron, then Harry, then Hermione.

"So Riley did you see my owl?" Ron asked Riley.

"Yeah he is so cute! Maybe you could tell mw where I could get one for my birthday. I'll give you my address and phone number," Riley answered, smiling at Ron. As Riley started to write her phone number, Hermione was glaring at her. Harry knew something was wrong with her. A couple minutes ago she was fighting to sit next to Riley, now she was glaring at her.

"Hey Hermione are you still mad at Ron?" Harry asked. At the mention of his name Hermione turned to Harry and whispered, "Yes".

The whole way home was filled with Riley and Ron laughing. Hermione sunk low in her seat and Dudley was playing with his new stationary. Harry was thinking about how great it was going to be when they went back to Hogwarts. He couldn't wait to see Hagrid, Dumbledore, and all of his other friends.

When they got home Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Riley ran back up to Harry's room. Riley and Hermione sat on Harry's bed and started to talk, as Ron and Harry looked through Harry's drawers. Just as Ron was about to write a letter to his family, they heard pecking at Harry's window. A gray owl was holding letters and hitting the window hard with its beak. Ron got to the window first and took the letters from the owl.

"What's that?" Riley asked turning away from Hermione. Harry's face went pale, how was he going to explain this? Riley grabbed a letter from Ron and read the front of the envelope.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," She said, and then she looked up at them, "You guys are wizards?" Hermione gulped and Harry hit his head hard. Then Ron looked up at them and gave Harry his letter.

"Hermione here's yours, here's mine, and wait…" Ron stopped, "There's a forth one." He looked at Riley.

"It's for you." He told Riley. She took the letter and smiled.

"Well it's about time! Durmstrang sent the letters out to us much quicker." She said. Ron, Hermione, and Harry's mouths dropped open. Then she turned to Harry and smiled wider.

"When I said I could read your mind I meant it," she told him. Then Harry realized that she had been giving him clues all the time. On his birthday she was extra nice to him, in the store she said she didn't need to get her stuff yet, she had said she liked owls and wanted one, and she had told them that her old school was huge.

"Well, that explains a lot of things," Harry said. Then Hermione squealed.

"I can't believe you are coming to Hogwarts!" she yelled. Ron came over and hugged her and took the letter.

"I can't believe it! Now you can be one of my best friends! I can just give you an owl during the year," Ron screamed happily.

"Well Ron you might not have enough money to buy an owl. I mean you don't have much money to buy anybody anything, even your friends," Hermione said to Ron. Harry couldn't believe that Hermione just said that. Ron just stared at her with a hurt look.

"Hermione, why did you…" Harry started, but Ron interrupted him.

"You're right Hermione. I don't have much money, but don't I always get my friends birthday and Christmas presents? Well maybe since you think I'm too poor to give everyone a present then maybe I'll just not give you one. Maybe since I'm too poor we can just quit being friends," Ron yelled, with tears falling from his eyes. He turned and ran out of the room. Hermione slid down the wall and started crying as well.

"Well I'm sorry Hermione, but I agree with Ron. That was not a very good thing to say. Ron has always gotten you something, hasn't he?" Harry said. Hermione started to cry even harder.

"Riley you take Hermione, and I'll talk to Ron," Harry said. She nodded and went over to Hermione. Harry walked down the hall to the bathroom where he heard Ron crying.

"Ron," Harry whispered.

"Harry I just wanted to make Riley like me. I am serious about the owl and you can't make me become friends again with Hermione," Ron told Harry. Harry sighed and sat next to Ron, who was still crying.


	4. The Hogwarts Express Ride

That night Ron slept in the hallway for half of the night. Harry couldn't sleep. All he could think about was Ron and Hermione. Occasionally Harry saw Hermione look out in the hallway. After the fifth time Harry decide to say something.

"Hermione if you want him to come in so bad just go out and get him."

"I can't."

"Alright, but would you please just go to sleep."

"Ok"

Finally the room went quiet. About an hour later Ron came in and sat at Harry's wooden desk and started writing. Ten minutes later Ron got up and walked out in the hall and got his sleeping bag. He dragged it into the room and put it down next to Hermione's and went to sleep. When Harry was sure Ron was asleep he walked over to the desk, which now had an envelope lying on it. Harry picked it up and read the letter inside.

Ginny- I love staying at Harry's house! His cousin Riley is so cute! I really like her. I wonder if she has a boyfriend. But today Hermione and I got into a fight. Se called me poor and I said I didn't want to be friends with her any more. I never thought Hermione would say that. Tomorrow we are going to Diagon Alley to buy our supplies. The muggles have very different school supplies! What color owl should I get Riley for Christmas? Brown, gray, or white? Please Ginny don't show this letter to anyone else. See you at Hogwarts!- Ron

Harry put the letter back into the envelope and gave it to Pig. Pig flew out the window to deliver it to Ginny.

The morning seemed to come quickly and he was the first to wake up. Hermione woke up next and looked at Harry. He pointed to Ron and Hermione turned, then she looked back at him and smiled. Having Ron and Hermione fight was really stressing because you never knew if they would make up. Riley woke up and looked at Ron too. She got up and walked over to him and whispered in his ear "Wake up". Ron jumped and screamed. He looked around, then he got up and went to the desk. Once he saw the letter was gone he looked right at Harry. Harry walked over to him and whispered in his ear "you should give her a gray owl". Ron looked at him and smiled.

"Ron it's time to go to Diagon Alley. But how do we get there?" Riley asked. Once again they heard pecking at the window, it was pig.

"How did he get back so fast?" Ron asked looking puzzled. At that moment the door swung open and Hagrid walked through the door. Riley stepped back looking very scared. Hermione went up and hugged him and Ron started reading the letter.

"Hi Hagrid, what are you doing here?" Harry asked. Hagrid smiled at him and looked at Riley.

"I came to pick all of you up. Hello Riley, I'm Hagrid. Don't be frightened I'm not scary," Hagrid told them, "Now you all know that Riley here is Harry's cousin. Nobody except you must know. We have our reasons for keeping this a secret."

Ron had finished reading his letter and threw it in his bag. Harry picked up his bags and walked out the door, followed by Hagrid, Ron, Riley, and Hermione. They used floo powder to get to Diagon Alley and went to Gringotts first. They went to Hermione's vault first, and then they went to Riley's. Riley had not as much as Harry but a lot. Then they stopped at Ron's vault. He got out of the cart and opened the vault. When he got back in the cart he glared at Hermione and hid the few coins he had. The last stop was Harry's, and he got as much as he could afford. Once they were done getting their money, they all went out a shopped.

The Hogwarts Express took off down the track as Harry, Ron, Riley, and Hermione found seats. Harry and Ron sat on one end and Hermione and Riley sat on the other. Mean stares were being aimed between Ron and Hermione as the train blew past the trees. Harry had had enough of the fighting and decided to say something.

"You know you two can't keep fighting forever," Harry said to Ron. Ron looked at Hermione and got up.

"I'm going to find Fred and George," he said. He walked out and almost immediately Ginny walked in and sat down next to Harry.

"I heard about your fight," she said to Hermone.

"How? Is Ron spreading around that I said he was poor?" Hermione asked, looking serious. Ginny sighed and stared at Hermione, and then she took out Ron's letter and handed it to Hermione. A moment later she threw the paper down and stared out the window. Riley was watching Ginny closely.

"Are you related to Ron? You look alike," Riley said still looking at Ginny.

"Yeah I'm his younger sister Ginny, and you are?" Ginny asked.

"Riley Evans. I transferred from Durmstrang," Riley answered, "I have been friends with Hermione for a long time as well. Her and Ron are in a little fight right now though. It is really depressing because I consider both of them as being my friends. Hermione is so nice and smart and Ron is very kind, one of those joker types, and he is kind of cute." Harry thought he saw Hermione wince after she said that. Riley was saying that she hoped to become a Quidditch player on her house team.

"Which house are you in?" Riley asked Ginny.

"I'm in Gryffindor with everyone else." she answered. Suddenly, Harry heard noise outside the door of their compartment. Ron and Draco Malfoy were standing out there talking.

"I have to go to the bathroom," he said and stepped outside the door. He heard Malfoy's voice.

"So Weasley where's your girlfriend, heard you two got into a fight."

"Yeah we are in a fight, but she's not my girlfriend and it is none of your business Malfoy," Ron yelled at him. Malfoy smiled and turned away from Ron and looked at Harry.

"Well Potter, your friend has a problem with Granger. I suppose you are comforting her"

"No Malfoy I'm not," Harry answered. Malfoy then turned back to Ron.

"I can't blame you for being mad at Granger, after all she is a filthy mudblood," Malfoy said. Ron glared at him for a moment then punched Malfoy right in the stomach. Draco cried in pain and sunk to the floor. Harry's mouth dropped open as Ron kicked Malfoy in the shins.

"I might be in a fight with Hermione but I won't stand you calling her a mud blood!" Ron screamed and ran toward Harry. He grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him back into the compartment, where Ginny was sitting next to a frowning Hermione.

"I'm sure Ron didn't mean what he said Hermione," Ginny whispered to Hermione.

"Yeah," Riley added, " You two really seem like good friends."

"We fight all the time Riley," Hermione said.

"Well, if friends don't fight sometimes they aren't really good friends," Riley told her. Ron who had just walked in behind Harry hadn't heard any of this. He just sat down and flipped through "_Quidditch: The One and Only Sport_". Malfoy ran into the compartment a moment later and started yelling at Ron, still holding his stomach.

"You will pay for that Weasley! You will!"

"What did he do?" Ginny asked. Malfoy's face turned bright red.

"He punched me in the stomach! All you Weasley's are the same. Rude, ugly, poor…" but Malfoy didn't get to finish. Ron pushed him out the door and locked it.\

"I am sick and tired of hearing that," he screamed. Hermione, who was now looking away from the window, was staring at Ron in disbelief.

"What did Malfoy do to make you punch him," Hermione asked Ron. Ron didn't look up at her. He kept flipping through the pages of his book.

"Harry you saw him right? What made him so mad," she continued.

"I can't tell you. Also, Riley don't tell her either." Harry said. Riley nodded and started to talk about Hogwarts.

"Okay everyone, what is Hogwarts really like? I haven't had a chance to read all of Hogwarts A History, so I'm not really sure what is going to happen. How do they pick the houses? I heard they use an old hat?" Riley kept talking until it was time to get off the train.


	5. The Sorting

"Everybody settle down it is now time to sort our first years into their houses," Albus Dumbledore said loudly. Everyone in the Great Hall got quiet.

"Now when I call your name you will come up to the stool and place the sorting hat on your head," Proffesor McGonnall said, "Timothy McGivven"

"HUFFLEPUFF" the Hufflepuff table roared as Timothy sat down.

"Roxanne Miller"

"GRYFFYNDOR"

"Jenna Jacobson"

"RAVENCLAW"

"Patrick Galleray"

"HUFFLEPUFF" the sorting hat screamed as Patrick stepped down.

"Terosia Thomas"

"SLYTHERIN"

"Now the next person has transferred here from Durmstrang and is going into her 5th year," Professor McGonagall said, "Riley Evans"

Riley sat down on the stool waiting to be sorted. When the hat was placed on her hat Harry could see it talking, but could not hear what it was saying. Finally the hat picked her house.

"SLYTHERIN," the sorting hat screamed. Harry couldn't believe it. Hermione gasped and Ron almost fell out of his chair. Nobody looked more surprised then the teachers. All of them were whispering wildly. Riley stepped down and ran over to the Slytherin table.

After everyone had been sorted the tables filled with delicious food. Neither Hermione, Ron, nor Harry could talk. Finally Hermione broke the silence.

"How could your cousin be in Slytherin?" Hermione asked. Harry didn't answer. Hermione waited then said something else.

"Ron," she said, "What did Malfoy do to make you so mad?" Ron looked up at her and looked back down.

"This is getting ridiculous you guys," Harry screamed, "Malfoy called you a mud blood and Ron punched him in the stomach and kicked him in the shins." Ron started to eat faster and Hermione looked at him.

"You did? Thank you," Hermione said smiling, "Please forgive me." Ron looked up at her and smiled.

"All right, but please don't call me poor again," he said. Hermione nodded. It was time to go up to their chambers, so they all got up. Hermione got up and hugged Ron.

"Finally you two made up, I was starting to think that I was going to have to choose between you for the rest of the year." Harry told them laughing.

All the Gryffindors walked up to the Fat Lady picture and waited to find out the new password. One of the Prefects came up and said "Bludger". The picture wall opened and everyone stepped into the Common room.

Ron and Harry went up to the boy dormitories and set up their beds. Just as Harry was putting up his Quidditch poster Hermione ran in.

"Ron, Harry," she yelled, "Riley's stuff is in my room." Harry looked at her and told her that they probably just got the houses mixed up. She stomped out of the room and Harry got into bed.

Harry woke suddenly and looked over at Ron who was up too. They heard a noise coming from the common room. Ron got up and walked out the door quietly, and Harry followed. The hall was very dark and Harry heard the sound of creaking wood as he walked. Finally they got to the common room and saw Hermione talking to someone.

"Hermione what are you doing," Ron asked her. She turned toward them and Harry saw Riley sitting across from her.

"Oh Riley, what are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"My luggage wouldn't move out of these dormitories, so I had to move here." She said happily.

"What do you mean it wouldn't move out of these dormitories," Ron asked sitting down next to Hermione. Riley looked between them and smiled.

"Are you two okay now," she asked. When they nodded yes she moved on.

" Well my luggage got transported up in this house and when all the teachers and students tried to pull them away they wouldn't budge." Harry looked at Ron and Ron nodded.

"We're going to bed," Harry and Ron said at the same time. As they walked out they could hear the girls giggling, then Harry heard Riley say "Boys, boys." Ron and Harry smiled as they got into bed once again.


	6. Jealousy, Lies, and Draco Malfoy

The next morning at breakfast the students got their class schedules.

"No," Ron screamed, "We have potions first, with the Slytherins. How much more could they do to torture us?" He slammed his head down on the table. The whole table shook and many kids were looking at him. Hermione was looking closely at our schedules and looked up.

"We don't have Defense Against the Dark Arts," she said, "Instead we go down to the Quidditch field." Ron took the schedule away from her and stared at it. Harry picked up his own and searched for the class. Ron leaped from his seat and started yelling, "YES", and "NO DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS."

"Ron, sit down!" Hermione yelled, obviously embarrassed. He sat down still smiling.

Ten minutes later the Great Hall was dismissed and they headed towards potions. Hermione was holding a sack of books in her hand and looking at her watch. Ron was whispering to Seamus, and he was laughing. Riley was looking around the hall nervously.

"Hey who is that kid?" Riley asked, pointing to Neville Longbottom who had just drooped all his books on the floor. She rushed over to the place where Neville was struggling to retrieve all his books.

"Who's that Potter," a cold voice whispered behind him. He turned to see Draco Malfoy standing behind, him pointing to Riley. Hermione looked at Draco frowning and Ron stepped toward Harry.

"I'm Riley Evans, and you are?" Riley asked. Draco looked away from Harry and turned toward Riley, who had just walked up behind him, followed by Neville.

"I am Draco Malfoy. So you're with the Potter clan, well be careful," Draco replied, "I'll see you around." He turned around and walked away, followed by Crabbe and Goyle. Ron sneered at him before he turned around to face Riley.

"He's bad news Riley," Ron said looking worried.

"Don't worry," she said looking back at Draco, "I can handle him." She walked away and followed Malfoy into the potions room. Ron leaned over and whispered into Hermione's ear.

"Hey Hermione, since you are like good friends with Riley, do you think you could put in some good words for me?" She looked at him.

"Why?"

"I want her to like me."

"She already likes you."

"No Hermione, I mean _really like_ me." Ron had finished and walked into the room. Hermione shook her head and followed him. Harry was about to walk in when Neville dropped his books again. He helped Neville and ran into Potions. As he entered the room whispers filled the room. Harry heard one person say "I can't believe he is dating Hermione". He walked over to Malfoy's desk and looked down at his cold pale face.

"Malfoy," Harry spoke slowly.

"Yes, Potter," Draco, responded, looking pleased.

"What have you been telling people?" Harry said.

"I have just been telling my fellow students about Weasley's and Granger's little fight," Malfoy said smirking. Harry didn't feel like dealing with Malfoy so he turned on his heel and ran straight to his seat next to Ron and Hermione.

Snape didn't seem to like Riley at all. Whenever he was going to ask an almost impossible question for the students, (except Hermione) he would choose Riley. It also didn't help her by answering all Snape's questions right. Hermione and Riley were like two encyclopedias ready to answer any question thrown at them. In every class they knew all the answers. Riley was becoming almost as popular as Harry. In the hall everyone was taking photos and talking to her. Harry honestly didn't know why everyone liked her so much.

When all the students had gathered on the Quidditch field, Professor McGonagall raised her right arm for silence.

"Welcome everyone. As you all know there will be no "Defense Against the Dark Arts" classes this year. Every Wednesday, Friday, Thursday, and Monday we will meet here at this time to witness the Quidditch practices. Every Tuesday we will all meet in the Great Hall to talk about current events and much more."

The whole stadium started t whisper loudly. This had come to Harry as very shocking that they would show the practices to all the houses.

"I know you are all wondering why we are showing all the Qudditch teams to the different houses," Professor McGonagall continued, "Your house will only see your team. Each team will have one day to have the practice. The other three house will report here but will be sent off to do another activity, which we will announce." She stepped aside and Dumbledore stepped up.

"Does anyone have any objections to this plan?" he asked. Nobody said a word.

"Well then all of you can go to your common rooms and we will see you in an hour at dinner." Professor McGonagall said sternly. All the students emptied out of the field and raced up to their common rooms chattering happily. Harry, Riley, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George were walking together and talking about what they had just learned.

"I bet they are only doing this because they were sick of finding a new teacher every year," George said grinning. Everyone nodded their heads and walked through the Fat Lady picture into the large Gryffindor Common Room.


	7. Hermione's Mistake

The end of October had come and everyone was getting ready for Halloween. Ron was trying to choose what he would do for his annual prank. So far he had come up with two possible choices:

Put a worm in someone's food at the feast.

Walk into one of the dormitories dressed like a ghost.

While Ron was trying to decide, Hermione and Riley were decorating their room. Orange and black streamers were hung up around their beds and Crookshanks, the poor cat, was dressed up like a pumpkin.

"What are you doing to that poor animal Hermione," Harry asked as he looked at Crookshanks.

"Crookshanks is going to be the best looking cat in Hogwarts. Even Lina Black's cat won't be better dressed," Hermione said proudly, smiling down at her cat. Lina Black always dressed up her cat, named Firefly, every Halloween and bragged about it. Hermione had always hated the way Lina Black bragged every year. So this Halloween she decided to get Lina back for what she had done. Ron who had been standing next to Harry ran out of the room.

The Great Hall on Halloween night was a flash of Orange and Black. Fake bats flew in the air and all the ghosts were dressed up for the occasion. Everyone in the Gryffindor house were looking at Ron hoping not to be the person who had to suffer through his joke. Hermione kept glaring at Lina as she ate her pumpkin pie and Riley was talking to Kylie Carragan, one of the first years. Fred Weasley was flicking mashed potatoes at George and George was flicking them at Katie Bell. Harry could hear Lina talking to Margo Jarastie.

"Firefly is dressed up as a bat this year. She is once again the best looking cat that Hogwarts has ever seen," Lina said laughing. Hermione clenched her jaw and started to stand up when Lina screamed in horror.

"Look at that worm! Help someone!" she screamed. Hermione, Harry, and Riley looked at Ron. Riley and Hermione started laughing to the point where they almost fell of their chairs. Harry patted Ron as he helped himself to more potatoes, grinning widely.

"Thanks Ron! That was the best trick you pulled yet," Hermione cried through her giggles.

"Don't mention it, it's all in a days work," Ron replied.

When twelve-o'clock hit, the Gryffindor common room was empty, except for Riley, Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Did you see Lina's face? She was terrified," Hermione choked. Ron smiled happily, clearly very proud of himself. Harry realized that Riley hadn't said much to him all day.

"Riley are you all right?" Harry asked, worried. She looked up and reassured him that she was fine.

"I was just thinking about something," she said smiling. After ten minutes Riley went to bed.

"Hermione what is up with her," Ron asked. Hermione looked down at her feet.

"Well she-she likes someone," Hermione said looking instantly at Ron. Ron smiled.

"She likes a Slytherin," she finished. Ron's smiled faded.

"You don't mean…" Harry said, not even believing what he was saying.

"Yes she likes Malfoy."

The room went quiet. Ron finally got up and walked out of the room. Hermione followed him. Harry sat there for a moment, thinking. His cousin liked his worst enemy.

The middle of November came quickly and people were getting more irritable. Christmas was coming and that was all anyone could think about. As usual, Professor Trelawney was predicting Harry's horrible death and that many horrible things would happen to Harry. "Your death is not the only one", she kept saying. Harry didn't pay much attention to her though, for the last two years it had always been the same thing. Ron was less chatty as the days went by. Especially on November seventeenth. Everyone went to Care for Magical Creatures, where they were learning about the long tail muzzle. This creature was horrible looking. It looked like it was half frog, half rabbit. Its nose was huge and its eyes were small. After that class, as Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Riley were walking to transfiguration, Draco Malfoy approached them.

"Hey Riley," he said. Riley smiled at him and said hi back.

"Well I just wanted to ask you a question," he looked over at Harry, "In private." Ron frowned and Hermione winced. As Riley and Malfoy began to talk Harry started to get worried. When Malfoy left Riley and she walked over, Harry's worst fears were confirmed.

"Malfoy asked me out and I said yes," Riley said sounding way too perky. She walked away and went to join Malfoy. Everyone looked at each other but didn't say a word. Ron ran away from Hermione and Harry, so they walked on together.

"I pretty much expected that," Hermione said. Harry looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well ever since they met Malfoy and Riley were just so nice to each other," she answered. Harry knew what she meant.

Harry and Ron entered Hogsmeade together, and Riley and Hermione followed. People were everywhere buying Christmas presents. December third was cold and cloudy, which were not good shopping conditions. Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Riley went to get a butter beer and Riley told them she had to go meet Draco. Ron frowned at her and walked out of the store with his butter beer. They all went to the bookstore and looked around. Ron picked up a book and he flew backward right into Neville Longbottom, who screamed pathetically. Harry and Ron both started to laugh and Harry could tell that Ron was starting to face the facts. All three of them went to almost every shop before going back to Hogwarts. Bags filled their hands and people laughing filled their ears.

That night Ron and Harry decided to go see Hermione and Riley. They crept down the hall quietly so no one would know they were in the girl's dormitories. When they got to the door they decided to listen before going into the room.

"So what do you think Draco is going to get me?" Riley said giggling. There was a pause and then Hermione answered.

"I don't know."

"Well what about Harry and Ron," Riley asked once more.

"Well, with Harry you can never tell and Ron…" Hermione paused.

"Do you think he will really get me an owl?"

"No I don't."

"Why?" Riley said. Ron and Harry crept closer to the door.

"As I said before, Ron doesn't have a lot of money so I don't think any of us should expect anything. He needs to realize how poor his family is." Hermione told her. Harry breathed in deep and Ron stood up straight obviously surprised. Harry couldn't believe Hermione would say that _again_. After what happened the last time she said that he never would have thought. Ron was in shock, he was just standing still. That was the last straw; Harry was going to have to confront Hermione.

"That was a bad thing to say Hermione," Harry said angrily as he stepped into the doorway. Hermione went ghostly white and Riley sat down on her bed. Ron stepped next to him. Riley put her face in her hands and Hermione gasped.

"Well, good night," Ron whispered before running out of the room. Harry frowned at Hermione.

"I hate to say this Hermione," he started, "But you deserve every minute of the silent treatment that he gives you." He walked out, still thinking about all that had happened. Was his life ever going to change for the better? Obviously not...


	8. Black vs Granger

"I can not wait for Christmas!" Kylie Carragan said to Harry. They were walking toward the Gryffindor common room, which was now filled with students. Harry said the password, _strawberry jam_, and ran through the door. Ron was sitting with Riley laughing loudly. Harry went over to join them, and looked over at Hermione. She was sitting by the fire looking through a book. He got up and walked over to her. For the last two weeks nobody had spoken to Hermione, besides Riley. Ron and Harry hadn't completely forgiven her and Ron hadn't said a word to her. She didn't even look up as he walked over to her table.

"Um, Hermione," Harry said, "Do you want to come over and sit down with me?" Hermione looked up, shocked.

"Really?" she asked, whispering. Harry nodded and she smiled. They got up and walked over to the couch where Riley and Ron were still laughing at jokes. Riley looked up, but Ron would not look at Hermione. After fifteen minutes nobody had anything to say, then Lina Black came over.

"Hi Ron," she said and waved. Then she walked up to the dormitories. Hermione looked disgusted and followed her up. Neither Riley, Harry, or Ron wanted to talk, except one thing.

"You know what," Harry told them, "I think I like Lina." When Harry walked out he heard Ron say "What is with all this Romance? And why isn't any of it coming _my_ way?"

The news that Harry Potter liked Lina Black spread through the Gryffindors, and then through the whole school. Lina seemed to like it and sat next to Harry at lunch everyday. Hermione hated what was going on. She also hated Lina Black and didn't trust her. Harry started talking to Hermione again, but Hermione didn't want to talk to him, especially when Harry announced that Lina and he were going out. Harry knew how Hermione felt but really liked Lina. He was also surprised that he got over Cho Chang so quickly. Ron seemed to be taking it very well. Everything seemed to be going very well, except for Ron and Hermione's fight, when something happened that made everyone curious about Harry and Hermione.

On December fifteenth Hermione was talking to JoAnna Gregory in the hallway. All the houses were waiting to go out to the Qudditch field, when JoAnna yelled.

"You like Harry Potter as more than a friend!" Everyone turned toward Hermione who had gone as pale as a ghost. Harry couldn't believe what he had just heard. Lina was standing right next to him obviously enraged. Ron also looked shocked and confused. Hermione looked at Harry, then at Lina. When she looked at Ron she ran out of the hall to the Gryffindor tower. Lina ran after her. Ron turned to Harry and told him he had to go to the bathroom. Riley ran to the tower, while everyone came over to Harry asking what was going on. He tried to look over the crowd, but was unsucceful.

Professor McGonnagal walked over and told everyone to follow her. Harry turned to follow, when Draco Malfoy ran up to him.

"Okay Potter, I need some help," he said regretfully. Harry was so confused that he just asked what Malfoy wanted.

"I want to know what to get Riley for Christmas, I mean she deserves something really special."

"Well Malfoy, I have to ask you something." Harry said to him.

"What?" Malfoy answered.

"You do know that Riley is muggle-born?"

"Yeah."

"And you still want to go out with her?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, okay." Harry couldn't believe that Malfoy didn't care. It was like he had changed overnight, just because of Riley. Malfoy stood there waiting for Harry to say something, but Harry didn't know what to say.

"Why don't you get her a… cat," Harry blurted. Malfoy smiled at this and nodded his head approvingly.

"She told me she loves cats, especially kittens," Harry continued.

"You know Potter I have a feeling Riley and you are both not telling me something," Malfoy said smirking, "What is it? I think since you two are friends, that we need to have a truce. But I am not being your friend." After Harry didn't answer, Malfoy started to leave.

"I will find out Potter." He yelled over his shoulder, walking towards Crabbe and Goyle. Harry suddenly had a feeling that Malfoy was right. Draco Malfoy got whatever he wanted. He would find out that they were cousins.

Meanwhile in the Gryffindor Common room Hermione was sitting in a chair, feeling embarrassed and confused. Ron ran in followed by Riley. Riley sat down next to Hermione, and Ron glared at her.

"You like Harry, well what a surprise. I'm sure you will give him a great Christmas present that will make up for mine because I just don't have enough to buy anyone a present this year," Ron yelled as he walked down the hall. Riley got up and followed him, leaving Hermione sitting on the couch burying her face in her hands.

"What is with you?" Riley screamed to Ron. He turned around, his face full o anger. Riley stepped back.

"Nothing," Ron murmured.

"Oh I believe there is more to this then you are letting on. You haven't spoken to Hermione for nearly a month, I think it is about time you two made up."

"There is nothing Riley, I just…" Ron started then stopped. Girls screaming reached their ears and they ran back to the Common room.

"He's mine!" they heard Lina Black screaming at Hermione.

"I-I don't…" Hermione was saying.

"You don't what? Care what I think?"

"I don't like him like that Lina."

"I can tell when someone is lying, either back off or I will have to get serious."

"What? No please," Hermione was sobbing. Just then Lina kicked Hermione in the shins and she collapsed. Ron ran over to Hermione, as Lina was about to kick her again. He got in front of Lina and blocked Hermione from the kick and the punch that was coming towards him. He fell to the ground, his nose bleeding and hit his head on the edge of the table.

"Ron!" Hermione screamed trying to help him, but he was not moving. Riley took Hermione and ran up to their room before Lina tried anything else.

"Are you all right Hermione?" Riley asked, panting from running up the stairs.

"I'm fine but Ron isn't! Go help him and get Lina out!" Hermione screamed heading for the door. They heard a scream and realized that Kylie Carragan had come into the Common room.

"Lina, what did you do to him? He's not moving!" Kylie screamed.

"I didn't mean to hit him! I meant to get Granger, he must've blocked her." Lina answered back sounding mortified.

"Hit Hermione Granger? Why?"

"She was going to take my boyfriend!"

"She doesn't like Harry like that! I know!" At that moment Hermione and Riley ran into the Common room.

"Ron! He isn't dead is he?" Hermione yelled, panicking. Riley and Lina ran out of the room, while Kylie was observing Ron.

"I don't think he's…" Kylie broke off. Hermione sat next to Ron wishing she hadn't said he was poor.

"Help! Someone help! Ron Weasley is…" Riley was screaming for Professor McGonagall, as she ran down toward the large group of people near the door. Harry heard her and ran out of the group followed by Professor McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore.

"What is it Riley?" Professor Dumbledore asked calmly.

"R-Ron Weasley is in the Gryffindor Common room. I think he is unconscious. Lina Black and Hermione Granger were fighting and she kicked Hermione.

"Then she went to kick her again, but Ron blocked her and got kicked instead, and Lina also punched him and he fell backward and hit his head on the corner of the table. He isn't moving, we need to help him!" Riley finished gasping for breath.

"Omigoodness!" Professor McGonagall yelled already half way down the hall. Snape, Hary, Riley, and Dumbledore followed her. They burst through the fat lady door and heading over to Ron. McGonagall fell to Ron's side and checked his pulse. Professor McGonagall nodded, which made Harry breath in deep, and Dumbledore started barking out orders.

"He's still breathing, but I think he got a pretty big hit to the head. Kylie and Lina go get Madam Pomfrey, Snape keep everyone from entering the Common room, and Minerva go send all the other students to the Great Hall for dinner, it is time to eat. Also, Minerva go get Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley and send them in here." Everyone did as they were told. Ron was taken up to the nurse as the three Weasleys walked in. Ginny started to cry and ran over to Harry.

"What happened?" she cried. Fred and George ran over to him too with worried faces. Hermione came over and told them the whole story. Riley was standing there looking like she wasn't worried at all.

"What if he dies?" Ginny cried, screaming about her big brother. Riley walked over to her.

"He will be fine. He won't die I mean he only got punched, even though it was pretty hard, and I just know he will be fine. Might have a bit of a memory disorder though." She said patting Ginny on the back. Nobody spoke as they left to go to dinner. There was nothing to say.

When they walked into the Great Hall all the whispers stopped, and everyone looked up. Professor McGonagall was sitting in her chair looking worried. After about ten minutes Dumbledore and Snape walked in, followed by Kylie and Lina. Kylie sat at the table and didn't say a word. Lina walked up to the table to receive her punishment. She came down and sat at the table as well, looking very scared. Just then Dumbledore stood up and motioned for everyone to be quiet.

"Well tonight has been rather exciting. We just came down from the hospital wing where Ronald Weasley is injured. There has been a fight between two of the students, who I shall not name," he looked over at the Gryffindor table.

" Mr. Weasley had tried to block the one student from a punch and got a blow to the head and a bruised ankle. Mr. Weasley is still not unconscious, but he is fine. But he will probably, since he got hit pretty hard, suffer from some short term memory loss for the next week or two. So everyone will have to acknoledge that and this should teach you all a lesson. Not to fight! Now you all can go back to eating with this in mind. Mr. Weasley will only have certain visitors. I will read their names. All teachers, Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley, since they are family. Also, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Riley Evans, and, as a request from himself, Draco Malfoy." He sat down and began to eat. Everyone looked at Harry and Draco, assuming they had started the fight. Dumbledore, obviously realizing this, stood up.

"I will only tell you that Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy had no part of this fight, which means they weren't fighting. So please go on eating and don't stare." He sat down again. Harry looked over at the Slytherin table, where Malfoy was staring right back at him. _Why would Malfoy want to come see Ron_, Harry thought to himself. At the other end of the hall Draco Malfoy was thinking, _I didn't request to see Weasley. What is going on?_ Confused and tired, Harry picked through his food.

The next day was a Saturday and almost everyone went to Hogsmeade except Harry, Hermione, Riley, and Ron. Harry, Hermione, and Riley didn't leave Ron's side all day. Ron still hadn't woken up and Harry could tell Hermione was getting more worried by the moment. Riley still didn't seem too concerned which puzzled Harry more than everything, besides Malfoy. She kept reassuring them that Ron was going to be fine, and that he would get out of the hospital wing by lunch on Monday. Harry knew Riley wasn't telling him something. He was going to find out, and when he did he was sure he would be shocked.


	9. Forgotten

Sunday came and the night fell upon Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ron lay in his bed still not awake, Harry was sitting in a chair beside him thinking. Harry looked down at the end of the bed where Hermione was asleep. She was leaning over the bed sleeping, still sitting in the chair.

"Is he awake yet?" Harry turned to see Riley and Draco entering the room.

"No," Harry responded in a whisper, "Well if it isn't Malfoy. What are you doing here?"

"Riley made me come up. I have no idea why…" Malfoy said. Riley glared at him and elbowed him in the stomach.

"I thought you asked to be able to see him," Harry asked him looking at Riley, who was smiling.

"I didn't," Malfoy said, and he too looked right at Riley.

"Why are you two staring at me?" she asked. Then she realized.

"Yes I told Dumbledore that Draco wanted to be able to see Ron," she said.

As Riley sat down, Harry looked up at Malfoy. He was looking at Ron. Obviously, they both were thinking the very same thing. _Why would Riley want Draco Malfoy to be able to visit Ron Weasley? _

"Well I'm going to go get some tea," Riley said getting up, "Come with me Draco, and Harry we are going to have to wake her up." She looked down at the sleeping Hermione and then walked out the door, followed by Malfoy.

Harry had just realized all the cards Ron had gotten from the Gryffindors. Neville Longbottom had given him a box of chocolate frogs and Kylie had given him a card that smelled like lilies, and when you opened it a whole bouquet of flowers pops out at you. Harry heard a noise and looked down at Ron, who was now stirring.

"Ron?" Harry asked thickly. Ron's eyes opened and he just lied there for a moment without speaking.

"Harry," Ron said sitting up, a really concerned look crossed his face.

"Where's Hermione? Where's Lina? Is Hermione okay?" Ron yelled at Harry looking around wildly.

"Hermione is fine Ron, thanks to you," Harry told him.

"Where is she?" Ron asked. Harry pointed to Hermione, who was still fast asleep at the foot of the bed. Ron smiled and suddenly fell backward holding his head.

"Oh! My head hurts," Ron yelled, lying his head back down.

"Well you did fall backward on your head, Hermione was very scared when you were knocked out. We had to like pull her away…" Harry stopped when he saw Hermione start to wake. She stretched and the moment she saw Ron was awake, she started yelling. She ran up to Ron, tears in her eyes, and threw her arms around his neck.

"Ron, are you okay? Does your head hurt? Do you remember me? Do you remember what happened? Ron can you hear me?" she yelled still hugging Ron tightly.

"Um… Hermione…do you mind?" Ron asked, looking terrified. Hermione immediately let go of him and stared at him as though he was about to break. Just then Riley and Draco returned holding four cups of tea. Hagrid came in after them, followed by Dumbledore.

"Ron! You're awake," Riley screamed and also came up and hugged Ron. Hermione told her that Ron's head hurt and that you can't squeeze him too tight. Ron looked at her and then at Harry, looking very confused. Draco also didn't like Riley hugging Ron and pulled her off of him. Dumbledore looked amused at this, and walked to the side of Ron's bed.

"How are you doing Ron?" he asked, smiling.

"Fine, but my head hurts a bit," Ron said. At those words Hermione edged forward toward the bed. Ron saw this and laughed.

"Hermione I told you I'm fine," Ron told her, "But I don't know why I'm here. What happened?" Ron looked over at Draco and looked over at Harry.

"And why is Draco Malfoy here?"

"Um… he asked to be here," Harry answered. Ron looked back over at Draco.

"Why?" Ron asked Malfoy.

"I don't know, ask her," Draco said pointing at Riley. Riley elbowed him once again.

"Ron," Dumbledore said, "Do you want me to tell you what happened?" Ron nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, I should tell you first how it started. Miss Granger and Lina Black had a fight about Harry," Harry thought he saw Dumbledore grin for a second, " Lina kicked Hermione in the shins and you ran out to block Hermione from being hit again. You ran in front of her and you got kicked and punched, before Lina even noticed it was you, not Hermione. When you got punched you fell backward and hit your head pretty hard on the edge of the table. You got hit so hard that you have been knocked out for almost two days. Your friends here even skipped a trip to Hogsmeade, just to stay with you. In other words it could have been Hermione lying in this bed if it hadn't been for you and Riley." Dumbledore smiled, and then turned and walked out the door. Harry looked at Ron, who was staring at the door with confusion written all over his face.

"Well, that was a bit of a shock," Ron said rubbing his head.

"Where did Riley go?" Malfoy said. They looked around and Riley was nowhere to be seen. She returned after about ten minutes later, but had to go again because Madam Pomfrey was shooing them all out.

"Mr. Weasley needs his rest. Ron have some chocolate." She said, rather loudly. They all went to bed.

Ron didn't return to classes until after lunch on Monday. Since he had lost some of his memory, he didn't remember some of the things in his classes so they all had review lessons. The bad part was that Ron remembered that he and Hermione had been in a fight. He still didn't look her in the eye and wouldn't talk to her. This made Hermione rather lazy. She wasn't answering as many questions in class as she used to. One day in Potions they had to pick partners. Snape had forbidden him to work with Riley, Ron, Hermione, and Neville. Snape seemed very happy and thought he was making Harry miserable but something extraordinary happened.

"Hey Potter! Work with me," Draco Malfoy yelled over the noise of the busy classroom. Harry looked at Riley and she nodded. He walked over to where Malfoy sat and sat down next to him. Snape was frowning as the class went on, and Malfoy and Harry were getting along. Nobody was as surprised as Harry.


	10. A Hogwarts Christmas

Harry broke up with Lina. A lot of people seemed happy about it, but not as much as Hermione. After what had happened to Ron she hated Lina more than ever. It was already bad enough having one of her best friends going out with her, but what Lina had tried to do to Hermione and did to Ron, she could not forgive. Lina wasn't happy though. She had skipped dinner the night he broke up with her.

Hermione was pleased and was getting happier as Christmas break approached. Harry, Ron, Riley, and Hermione were staying at Hogwarts for the break. Riley was so happy, that she actually volunteered to help with the decorations. Harry and Hermione would help her while Ron was sleeping. They all didn't think it would be smart for Ron to help, so they did it while he was sleeping. Under the special circumstances Dumbledore agreed. Ron was starting to remember what had happened the day of the fight, but he didn't seem to know everything. He claimed that he wasn't the one who blocked Hermione. They all would laugh at that and Ron would just frown.

Christmas Eve had finally come and the school grounds were covered in white powder. Draco had also stayed at Hogwarts and started throwing snowballs at everyone. Hermione told Ron that he should stay out of the fight, because he might hurt his head again.

"Oh, stop worrying Hermione! I'm fine," Ron, shouted running in and immediately getting hit by a snowball that Malfoy had chucked at Harry.

"Malfoy, don't hurt him!" Hermione screamed. Draco laughed as Hermione ran up to Ron.

"Hermione, you know what I want for Christmas?" Ron said, getting more impatient, but understanding, "I want you to stop worrying about me! I'm fine as I told you before. I understand that you are trying to protect me and do me a favor, but you don't need to pay me back. Okay?" Hermione smiled and nodded. Ron ran over and took a snowball from Riley and threw it at Hermione. She screamed when it hit her and grabbed a handful of snow. She ran up to Ron and pushed him to the ground and threw the snow in his hair.

"Oh you are going to get it Hermione!" Ron yelled. Harry came over to help him, and they both flung snowballs at her. They stayed out there for an hour and went back inside for dinner. A whole day over fooling around in the snow had left them really cold. They all went down to dinner in jackets. Riley leaned over to Harry and whispered in his ear.

"I think their fight is over."

"Yeah" Harry answered. After dinner they all went up to bed. Harry had some last minute rapping to do for the girls. He had gotten Hermione a whole pack of lollipop ice cream butterflies, and he got Riley some cat treats (wink:wink) and chocolate frogs. Ron's present was all different kinds of candies from Honeydukes, a Professional Qudditch player handbook, and some galleons. Once he was finished, he got into bed.

_…is dead after being captured by you-know-who. A Friend, Hermione Granger is here to comment on what has happened._

Riley woke with a start. The dreams she had been having were not making her happy. No one knew her secret except her aunt Lily Potter, who was dead. Riley laid her head back down on her pillow, and soon drifted off again.

_Stop! Don't hurt him! _

_Take Riley and go Tracey, Lily has taken Harry! You must keep her safe. She and Harry are our only hope! Help…_

James Potter's voice rang through her head. She had never heard this dialogue before. She would hear her uncle every once in a while and he would mention Harry. That was how she knew when Harry's birthday was and who Harry was in the first place. Something moved at the other end of the room. She sat up in her bed, and saw Ron placing something in Hermione's arm, who was sleeping.

"Ron what are you doing?" Riley hissed, in a whisper. Ron jumped, and then looked over at her.

"I'm giving Hermione her Christmas present! Go to sleep!" Ron said. Riley didn't feel like getting into a fight with him so she went back to sleep.

"Thank you! This must have cost you a fortune! I'm sorry," Hermione was hugging Ron once again. Harry looked over and saw Ron telling him, not actually saying, but lip talking, "Get her off of me"

"Hermione really, get off him," Harry said rubbing his eyes. She stepped back clutching a big book. The cover read, _Hogwarts A History, Present, and Future_.

"You're welcome." Ron said, beginning to rub his head. When he saw Hermione starting to look worried he stopped.

"This book just came out today! The school doesn't even have a copy yet!" Hermione screamed happily. Ron smiled at her then sat down on the floor to open his own presents. Riley walked in dressed in all red and green. When she came in Ron whistled and a dark gray owl, very much like Hedwig, flew over to her. She screamed, sat down, and started to play with it. They all decided to go down to the common room to open the rest of their presents. Ron got a sweater once again, but this time it wasn't maroon.

"Thank You! It's not maroon! It's green!" Ron cried, examining it. Then he looked at the card. It was a howler, but it didn't seem to want to explode.

"Open it," Riley said. He opened it and Mrs. Weasley sounded like she was about to cry.

"RON, ARE YOU OKAY? SWEETIE, I NEED TO KNOW! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? I HOPE HERMIONE SAYS THANK YOU! WHAT YOU DID WAS BRAVE, YOUR DAD AND I ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU! ANSWER US, SO WE KNOW YOU'RE OKAY. IF YOUR HEAD STARTS TO HURT GO RIGHT UP TO THE NURSE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME YOUNG MAN? GINNY TOLD ME EVERYTHING THAT THE LETTER DIDN'T SAY. BYE HONEY WE LOVE YOU!"

Everyone sat there. Ron then said what everyone was thinking.

"My mother sounds like Hermione," he said, laughing. Hermione frowned. Ron put his arm around her shoulder.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of. It's just you're both worried about me, that's all." Ron said still laughing. Riley was about to pick up one of her presents from Harry when the door knocked. Hermione got up and opened it. Draco Malfoy stood there, smiling. He came in and Riley got up at once. In his hands, he was holding a little light gray kitten, with white paws. Riley took it and started petting it. The cat climbed out of her hands and ran over to Mittens, Riley's new owl, and started to bat at her.

"They like each other," Riley said, joyfully. She ran over to Draco and pecked him on the lips, "I think I will name her Sugarfoot."

Harry ran up to her and handed her his last present for her. She opened it and found the cat treats inside. Riley looked between Draco and Harry.

"You planned this," she said, sounding amazed.

"Well I said that you were hard to shop for and Draco said he was getting a cat for you, so I decided to get you some cat treats for your new kitten," Harry said. Draco looked at him, surprised, and then he smiled. Riley ran over and started to pet and play with both of her pets. Hermione walked up to her next.

"And these are for your owl," she said quietly. Ron looked up.

"I thought you thought I wasn't going to get her an owl," He said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Well then I realized that you always waste all of your money on your friends, so I…" Hermione started to explain. Ron smiled and stopped her. Then they heard Riley laughing. Mittens was holding Sugarfoot and flying around the room. Harry then knew that this was one of his best Christmas's.

"Ron," Harry said, "You wouldn't mind if I got back together with Lina, do you?" Ron thought for a second and then spoke.

"No, as long as she doesn't almost kill me again." Ron answered. Harry smiled and patted Ron on the back.


	11. Sweet Dreams

January passed and February came. All the snow had melted, which came as a relief to the teachers. It was still cold outside and everyone was wearing their jackets to class. Lina Black was delighted when Harry told her he wanted to get back together. Of course he told her not to do what she had done again, and she agreed. Ron and Hermione seemed to be the only two people who weren't in a relationship, until early February.

Madam Maxime showed up with Fleur Delacour. Ron was delighted. Hermione was not. Harry was surprised, and Riley didn't know who she was.

"Hello Harry, hello Ron," Fleur said, and kissed them both on the cheeks. Hermione and Lina stepped back. Lina and Hermione had learned to tolerate each other, and even become buds.

"I don't like this girl," Lina whispered to Hermione, glaring at Fleur.

"I know she just comes in and steals the boys away from us," Hermione said, Lina smiled at her, and Hermione knew what that smile was for, "I mean they are going to be hanging out with her instead of us." Even though the girls were mad, they couldn't do anything. Harry had already warned Lina, and Hermione didn't want to get in another fight with Ron.

At dinner Fleur asked Ron to sit next to her, and he did. Harry was fine with it, but when he looked over at Hermione she was glaring at Fleur with pure hatred. She sighed and started to pick through her food. Riley didn't like Fleur any more then Hermione. Harry also noticed Lina giving Fleur dirty looks. All the girls hated Fleur and all the guys loved her. This wasn't a big surprise to Harry, since Fleur was part Veela. Even Draco started to flirt with Fleur, which did not make Riley very happy.

"Draco Malfoy you get away from her!" Riley screamed. When Draco didn't come to her, she got really angry.

"NOW! I mean it!" Riley yelled once again sounding angrier. Draco must have noticed how mad she seemed and ran over to her right away. Harry found this all pretty amusing, until he saw how upset this was making Hermione. On Valentines Day everyone was in the hallways, since classes were cancelled. Two Ravenclaw seventh years were having a fight and were throwing curses at each other. One curse missed the Ravenclaw and went straight toward Ron. Fleur ran and toppled him over before it could hit him. The whole hallway came around them, including Hermione, Harry, and Riley. Ron and Fleur were looking right into each other's eyes. The crowd pulled away, and Hermione ran up to Ron.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes," Ron said, still looking at Fleur, grinning, "Thanks to Fleur." Hermione stood up straight, and something worse then hatred appeared on her face. She turned around slowly and grabbed Riley's arm. Pulling Riley behind her, Hermione ran out of the hall and toward the common room.

"You're just jealous, that I have a girlfriend, and you don't have a boyfriend." Ron yelled. Riley hid behind one of the chairs in the common room, where Ron and Hermione were having another fight.

"No I'm not!" Hermione yelled back.

"Just because you can't find a decent boyfriend doesn't mean you can criticize my girlfriend."

"Fleur?"

"Yes. Fleur is my girlfriend!" Ron yelled and ran out of the room. Hermione looked as shocked as Riley felt. Hermione walked out of the room. Riley sat down next to the fire to think. These fights were not helping Riley with her worst fear. Ever since she met Harry she had been having dreams, most of them had something to do with James, Lily, and Harry Potter. Different voices and images were appearing in her mind, in her dreams.

Riley crept back up to her bed, where three other girls were sleeping. Hermione Granger, Kylie Carragan, and JoAnna Gregory all had pretty good, carefree lives. None of them had dreams about their dead aunt and uncle. Riley got into bed and fell asleep.

…_Harry will be great someday Lily. Help him._

_You know what Riley can do, she also needs to go on…_

…_Lily! Voldemort is coming! You need to flee!_

_What about you Tracey?…_

…_James told me to take Riley and leave, you need to take Harry!_

Sweat was pouring down Riley's face. Another one of her dreams had left her terrified. Sugarfoot jumped on Riley's stomach and started to purr. She stroked Sugarfoot's fur and jumped herself, when she saw Mittens holding a letter. She read it:

**Riley-**

**I am still on the run as you may know, and I understand you have gone to Hogwarts. You must not let Harry find out that you know me. He doesn't know the circumstances. I expect you are still having those dreams. If you are try to find out why. That might help you in your search for your father.**

**Sweet Dreams my dear.**

**-Sirius.**


	12. Secrets

"Do you think Riley has been acting strange lately?" Hermione asked Harry.

"No the only person I think that has been acting weird is Ron," Harry said.

"Well he's just like that, ever since Fleur came," Hermione exclaimed. Harry saw Riley walking down the hall with Ron and Fleur. Fleur was laughing along with Riley. Ron was doing one of his jokes. He ran up to Harry. Then Fleur came up to Ron and kissed him on the cheek and told him she had to go with Madam Maxime.

"Well, let's go up to the Common Room. I have to tell you something Harry," Ron told them. Hermione stared at Ron curiously. Suddenly, Riley turned around and looked at the bathroom door.

"I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be up in a minute," she said. Hermione looked at Harry and shrugged her shoulders.

It was already the end of March and Professor Trelawney was still making death predictions for Harry.

"Oh darling, we will miss you terribly! Just so you feel better about what will happen, I will say you are not the only person who will part with us." Harry never took this seriously. For the last three years she had been doing this and Harry had still not died. Potions was worse then ever. Snape was teaching them about color-changing potions and decided to have Neville be the example. Neville was now half orange and half bright blue. Madam Pomfrey had reassured Neville that the potion would only last four days.

Snape seemed to like Riley. Harry guessed it was because Riley was going out with Draco. Nobody else seemed to notice it though. Even Lina was acting strange. Something was going on, and Harry intended to find out what it was.

It was early April and everyone was looking forward to spring vacation. Owls were flying everywhere and flowers were appearing. Everyone had put off studying for their finals and were having fun.

Harry and Ron were walking past the staff room and Harry heard Snape and Dumbledore talking.

"Ron you go ahead, I have to ask Dumbledore something," Harry told Ron who was now looking at him suspiciously. Then Ron turned and walked toward Hermione and Riley, who were coming down the corridor. Harry walked closer to the door and could hear most of what they were saying.

"Severus you must tell her the truth!" Harry heard Dumbledore say.

"I don't think this is the time Albus," Snape answered harshly. There was a pause and Dumbledore continued the conversation.

"I think this is as good a time as any."

"Not now Albus."

"Harry deserves to know also."

"What does this have to do with him?"

"A lot, he will find out."

"Not if I can help it!" Snape yelled. Harry could hear him walking toward the door and ran back over to Ron, Riley, and Hermione. When Snape came out, Harry turned to look at him. Snape was staring right back at him, and then Professor Dumbledore came out as well. Dumbledore took one look at Harry and could tell he had heard. He looked back at Riley who was now talking to Kylie. Harry noticed that she began to sway and her hair got darker.

"Riley are you okay?" Harry asked. She must have realized what was happening and ran out of site. She returned a quarter of an hour later. Hermione looked at her curiously and then turned to talk to Ron about their Herbology assignment.

"I was fine, just got a little sick." Riley said sounding out of breath. Lina suddenly came over and pulled her aside. Harry took one last look at Riley and Lina before following Ron and Hermione to the Great Hall for dinner. When they reached the Hall they all sat down. Ron saved one of the seats next to him.

"Is it okay if Fleur sits next to us today?" Ron asked glancing over at Hermione. Hermione looked down at her plate and nodded. That was all the answer Ron needed so he called her over. Fleur came over flipping her hair behind her.

"Ron, sweetie, may I also sit next to Hermione here," Fleur said pointing at Hermione. Ron looked shocked, but nodded. After about five minutes Ron said he had to go to the bathroom. He got up and walked out. As soon as he was gone Harry could hear Fleur whispering to Hermione.

"No hard feelings I hope," Fleur said to Hermione. Hermione looked at her.

"What?" Hermione answered.

"I know you like Ron, so I just wanted to tell you I hoped you weren't mad at me for being beautiful and getting him first." Fleur said, a look of happiness crossing her face. Harry's mouth dropped open, along with Riley's, who had also been listening.

"I don't know what you mean Fleur," Hermione said clenching her jaw.

"Well you must have realized by now that you were no match against me in this battle. Ron absolutely loves me. I have also invited him to come meet my parents over the summer. He agreed of course. Ron is mine honey. I'm beautiful, smart, funny, and absolutely breathtaking. As if you haven't noticed. You are an ugly, mudblood, and Ron will never like you in that way." Hermione looked away tears in her eyes. Harry had just noticed that Ron was standing right behind Fleur and had heard the whole thing.

"Get," Ron said slowly, "up!" Fleur looked at Ron and frowned. Hermione also looked up.

"Ron please…" Fleur started, but was cut off.

"What did I say? Get up." Ron spoke slowly, clearly, and coldly.

"Ron you are making a huge mistake…"

"No I think the mistake was ever dating you! Get out of that seat and get the heck away from me!" Ron screamed, his face going red. Fred and George Weasley saw this and came over.

"We'll get her Ron," Fred said taking Fleur by the arm, George took the other. Fleur shot daggers at Ron and started to fuss.

"Get off me!" Fleur screamed. The teachers looked up and looked back down starting to giggle. Ron sat down next to Hermione.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked sounding concerned.

"Yeah," she said, "Thanks." They smiled and went on eating their dinners.


	13. Just Too Much

Madam Maxime and Fleur were gone. They had complained and had left the grounds. Ron was jumping for joy, he was glad to see her go. Hermione seemed sad, which surprised everyone.

"I wanted to get a chance to punch her!" Hermione kept telling everyone. Things were going great by the end of April, but no one was prepared for what was about to happen.** ………**

* * *

Riley had fallen asleep on one of the couches in the Common Room. Ron Weasley had come down to check for one of his homework papers. He chuckled when he saw Riley lying down with her head dangling off the couch. Suddenly Riley woke up and stared into the fire.

"Um Riley," Ron whispered, "What are you doing?" Riley jumped and glared at him.

"Ron, what are _you_ doing," Riley said, "And don't do that again."

"Don't do what?" Ron asked, dumbly.

"Scare m…" Riley stopped in mid-sentence. She had heard a noise. Ron had heard it too. Looking terrified she pointed at Ron.

"Hide!" she screamed staring at the door. Ron started to run, but wasn't fast enough. Peter Pettigrew came in smiling dangerously. Riley gasped and Ron opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

"Oh, boy you are coming with me," Peter said, now looking at Riley, "And you my dear are not. We must get you out of the way." Peter took out his wand and sent a flash of light aiming straight at Riley. It hit her and she screamed. Ron looked down and saw her lying on the floor, lifeless.

"No Riley!" Ron tried to scream, but it came out as a gurgle. Pettigrew started to run out of the room, Ron still following him under some spell. Before Ron left the room he saw Lina Black leaning over Riley. Not knowing what to do, Ron followed Peter Pettigrew without and struggle. He tried to be as calm as possible, which is hard when you are about to go with a killer…a killer that would do anything to get Harry, and would do anything to kill Harry's cousin. …

* * *

Harry made his way into the Great Hall wondering where Ron and Riley were. Hermione was looking around anxiously. The Hall was crowded with students and Harry and Hermione finally got to their seats. Harry looked up at the teachers table and saw all of them crying. Snape looked stern like a statue and Professor McGonagall was crying madly. Once everyone had taken their seats, Professor Dumbledore stood up. The whole room went silent.

"Before I tell you the news I must ask these following people to come up here. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Kylie Carragan, Ginny, Fred, and George Weasley."

Harry stood up along with Hermione, Kylie, and Ginny who were giving each other confused looks. They walked up to the platform, flowed by Draco, Fred, and George, who looked just as surprised. Hagrid came over, tears rolling down his face, and told them to follow him. They all walked into a room with many green chairs and a stone fireplace. Lina Black was already seated in one of them, looking rather uncomfortable. Once everyone had sat down they started to talk. Dumbledore soon came in and started to speak.

"I wanted you all to be the first to know about what happened last night. I will first tell you that you all are connected to the victims. Now I will say it straight out. Last night two of our Gyffindors had an encounter with Peter Pettigrew," everyone except Harry and Hermione looked terrified.

"But Peter Pettigrew is dead," George Weasley said.

"No George. In fact Harry, Hermione, and Ron had some contact with him in the third year. Peter was your old rat Scabbers. He is an amiagi," Dumbledore said knowingly. Fred and George looked at each other, and then looked at Harry. Dumbledore went on.

" Last night Ron Weasley was one of those two people and Riley Evans was the other. I will first meet with Harry, Draco, and Hermione first. Please follow me." They walked into a separate room and sat down.

"I chose you three to talk to about this first because you all are very important to this victim. Draco you were in a relationship with Riley so I chose you, Hermione you two were like sisters, and Harry, you are the most important. She is your cousin," Dumbledore said, looking sadly at them, "Riley was there with Ron last night. From Lina's information, Riley had fallen asleep and Ron came down to find his Divination homework. At that time Ron and Riley met Peter Pettigrew. Ron Weasley is missing and Riley Evans is dead." Those words hit everyone in that room. Hermione broke down completely. Harry sat there not moving and Draco's head was lying on the cold table.

"I know this is a shock to you and I ask your permission to tell the whole school." Dumbledore said quietly. Draco nodded his head and began to cry. Hermione was unable to answer, and Harry nodded his head also. Once Hermione had gotten a hold of herself she told him yes too.

"I chose to tell you three first about Riley. Now I must tell the Weasleys." Dumbledore got up and followed them out the door. Once everyone had seen their faces, questions were being thrown at them. Neither Harry, Hermione, or Draco were able to answer.

"As I had just told Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter, and Miss Granger, Ron Weasley is missing. The worst news though is that Riley Evans is dead, killed by an illegal spell. At this moment we are searching for Ron and will be for a while, until he is found. I ask your permission to tell the whole school about this event, but I must warn you, parents will be telling their children anyway. It is better to tell them now." Dumbledore said. Ginny started to wail and dropped her head on Fred's shoulder. Fred patted her head softly, trying to keep himself from going into tears also. Dumbledore told them they would be eating their meals up on the platform next to the teachers.

Once they walked out into the Great Hall, everyone went quiet. Ginny and Hermione were still crying, and everyone else's eyes were red. The whispering stopped when Dumbledore appeared.

"I'm afraid I have some terrible news," Dumbledore spoke loudly, " Last night two of our fellow students were attacked by Peter Pettigrew. Yes, Pettigrew is alive and well. Three of our students had already had an encounter with him two years ago. Ronald Weasley and Riley Evans were attacked In the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron Weasley is now currently missing and Riley Evans has left us. She died last night. We will be searching for Ron Weasley and hope to find him soon. We will have security come and all these people up here will be sleeping in different safe rooms. I will not tolerate people coming up and asking about this matter. If your fellow students wish to present you with information then they may." ….

After dinner Harry, Hermione, Kylie, and the Weasley's were sent up to their chambers to gather their things. Hermione came down holding a piece of paper, looking shocked. She handed him the paper as she tried to pick up a pen that fell out of her bag.

"She knows Sirius!" Harry whispered to Hermione. Hermione nodded, still weeping from that announcement.

Harry shared a room with Fred, George, and Draco, but there was also another bed made. Once all the others were asleep that night he began to read the letter again. At about eleven o'clock the door opened, and Snape entered crying. Harry had just noticed something. Snape was so sad about Riley's death. More sad then any of the other teachers or students. Harry and Snape grieved the same, because they were both family. Harry was Riley's cousin and Snape was Riley's father. _This is just too much_, Harry thought as he drifted off to sleep.


	14. The Truth

"Potter get up!" Malfoy said, pushing Harry's shoulder. Harry rolled over and told Malfoy to go away.

"Fine! But you're going to miss breakfast."

"Wait, what time is it?"

"Time for breakfast." Malfoy said grabbing a piece of paper that was lying on the wooden table. Harry came over and started to read the note over Malfoy's shoulder.

**_Fred, George, Harry, and Draco-_**

**_All your classes are cancelled today. You may walk around the school but DO NOT go anywhere near the Forbidden forest or off the grounds. Thank you._**

**_Albus Dumbledore_**

**_P.S. Harry, please report to Professor Snape's office as soon as you wake up_**

"Well, you better go Harry," Draco said, still sounding drowsy from yesterday. He rubbed his eyes and walked out the door. Harry didn't realize how sad, hurt, and confused Malfoy was, until now. He still hadn't quite accepted that Riley was dead. Lina stopped by five minutes later telling Harry it would be okay and that they would find Ron. Some people weren't as confident.

Suddenly he saw Hermione rush past the door. Harry ran out and called for her to come inside. Hermione once again broke down in tears.

"You know what my last words to him were?" Hermione asked, through series of yelps, "I said, _you should really work harder on your homework_!"

"Hermione we will find him," Harry said reassuringly. Hermione ran out of the room. Harry couldn't take this. Too much was happening, all at the same time, to him. At that moment Snape walked in.

"Good morning Potter," Snape said lazily.

"Good morning Severus," Harry replied. Snape looked at Harry with amazement.

"Well that is your name isn't it?" Harry asked, "Unless you're hiding something from me. But you wouldn't do that would you?"

"Um…" Snape said, obviously not knowing what to say.

"It's too late now Snape," Harry went on, "She's dead. She never knew her father. She never knew _who_ he was." Harry winked and walked out the door, leaving Severus Snape open-mouthed.

"That was a nice speech Harry." Dumbledore said. Harry jumped when he saw him. Dumbledore was smiling.

"I can't believe she's dead," Harry said, wanting to cry, "And Ron is missing. Who knows where he is." Dumbledore didn't say anything.

"The one thing I don't understand is why Peter _killed_ Riley." Harry said eyeing Dumbledore, "You know, don't you?"

"Yes Harry," Dumbldore whispered.

"Well can you tell me?"

"No."

"Please Professor?"

"No, Harry."

"Why?"

"Fine I will tell you," Dumbledore said pulling Harry into the staff room.

"You and Riley were born inside a month of each other. You, July 31, her August 23. You both had a special bond with each other when you were little. Both of you seemed to be able to do different things. Also, Voldemort was after both of you. Nobody really knows why. We do know that Riley was seeked because of her special kinds of powers. She could see the future and past in her dreams, and she could become invisible whenever she felt like it.

"She can not speak parasel tongue like you, but she also hears voices of you, your father, her mother, and your mother. Riley's godfather was you father. So when James died Sirius became her godfather. He always knew who her real father was, Severus Snape. Riley never knew of course. I knew you had it figured out by last night. Of course Riley and Draco's relationship did not make sense to me. His father tried to capture her when she was a baby. That was why Riley was sorted into Slytherin, it was her father's house. I don't however understand why she was meant to stay in Gryffindor. That is all I can tell you on this subject, especially since the Weasley's should be arriving here any moment now." Dumbledore got up and opened the door. Snape was standing right there.

"He does know Severus." Dumbledore said quietly. Harry got up and walked past Snape to follow Dumbledore. Once he got up to the end of the hall he saw a flash of red hair. He ran over to Mrs. Weasley, who had outstretched her arms for a hug. Once Harry had hugged her she started to cry. Hermione came over as well, followed by the rest of the Weasley family.

Everyone gathered into the staff room once again and sat down ready to listen. After everything had been explained the room went quiet. Then suddenly Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny started to sob loudly. Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Percy, the twins, and Harry sat not saying a word. Ron wasn't among the Weasley clan. Then it finally hit Harry, that his best friend and cousin were gone.

"MY BABY! I WANT MY BABY! I WANT MY RONNY!" Mrs. Weasley suddenly cried. All the girls started crying once more. Finally after much fighting back tears, the boys started to cry as well. The whole Weasley family was crying. Then Harry had done something he hadn't done ever since he found out. Harry cried. He cried hard.


	15. The Talk

The whole school was distracted. The teachers sympathized with the students and, against their better judgment, cancelled the OWLS. The teachers had decided to have the students take them in their sixth year instead. After two weeks the Ministry still hadn't found Ron or Pettigrew. Harry became more and more restless as the days went on. People were crying everywhere, and almost everyone was sad. Everyone, except Pansy Parkinson was sad. She would walk around the halls, a smile spread across her thin, pale face. This made Hermione absolutely furious.

During potions one day in mid-May Pansy was talking with two other Slytherins about what had happened. Harry was sitting right next to Draco and Hermione who were listening as well.

"I never liked that Riley Evans. She was always so prissy. She thought she was little miss perfect, just because she was pretty. All the boys liked her, but she chose my boyfriend Draco," Pansy said laughing. Malfoy breathed in deep and mumbled a few words to himself. Pansy went on.

"Life without her will be much better. Maybe Draco will come back to me. In fact I'm sure he will, after being with Riley he must need some fresh air. And she owns a cat. A cat! How disgusting. No more Riley Evans. I could have a party. She deserved what she got. Now she's dead. I personally am very glad…" At that moment Harry, Malfoy, Hermione and Snape stood up, but they weren't fast enough. Sugarfoot, who had been sitting on a chair, pounced on Pansy and scratched her face. Blood dripped down Pansy's face.

"How dare you!" Draco yelled.

"That was so low!" Hermione called.

"That is my cousin you're talking about!" Harry screamed angrily.

"That is enough Parkinson, you have crossed the line. Alexa take her up to Madam Pomfrey. 100 hundred points taken from Slytherin." Snape said pointing a trembling finger at Pansy. Before Pansy left the room she called, "I hope Weasley is dead as well. That was enough for Hermione, she had had enough as well.

"You!" Hermione screamed as she ran out of the room. Then everyone heard yelling. Everybody in the classroom turned in their seats and started whispering, as Harry, Malfoy, and Snape ran out of the room. Hermione was on top of Pansy hitting her and screaming. Alexa looked absolutely terrified. Harry and Malfoy pulled Hermione off Pansy. Snape took care of the rest.

"Stop both of you!" he yelled, and then pointed at a group of students who had been watching, they scampered off.

"Now five points from Gryffindor, and another thirty from Slytherin," Snape yelled, Pansy gasped, "And Parkinson you will have two weeks of detention. Now Alexa as I said before take Pansy up to the nurse. Malfoy go get that cat!" Everyone did as they were told. Hermione still hadn't calmed down. She was panting and sobbing, as they walked back into the class. All the students were whispering, and to Harry's surprise no one was laughing. Instead they came up to Hermione and Harry, and started patting them in the back.

Snape walked in and excused everyone from class. They all left the classroom except for Harry. He walked up to Snape's desk, feeling queasy, but he knew what he had to do.

"Professor, thanks for what you did," Harry said quietly. Snape looked up a single tear rolling down his face. He looked down immediately to hide it from Harry.

"You were right Potter," Snape said, "She was my daughter. Harry stood there. The mean glare that was usually on Snape's face was gone, and replaced with tears.

"It must be hard for you," Harry said.

"Yes, it is,"

"Well I better go." Harry turned and walked toward the door, but was stopped by Snape's voice.

"Harry…" Snape whispered, "How long have you known that Riley was your cousin?" Harry turned around to face Snape.

"Since August." Harry replied.

"Was she enjoying Hogwarts?" Snape asked, quickly glancing up at Harry.

"Yes very much."

"Well, that's good." Snape looked down at the papers spread out across his desk. This side of Snape had never been seen by any student. _Death must bring out the best and worst in people_, Harry thought.

"I hope Miss Granger feels better. She must have had been very angry to do that to Parkinson." Snape suddenly said, awaking Harry from his trance.

"Well she hasn't quite been herself since Ron had been knocked out in December," Harry said sitting down in one of the desks. Snape listened as Harry told him about everything that had been going all year. This surprised Harry very much. Then Snape said something that startled Harry very much.

"So, when was the last time you saw Sirius?" Snape asked, like it was just any old question. Harry's mouth dropped open, which Snape saw.

"I know about him Potter."

"Well, I haven't seen him in a while. Why would you care? I thought you hated him as much as you hate me." Harry snarled. Snape looked shocked.

"I don't hate you Potter, and I don't hate Sirius. I just don't agree with you and him in some ways." Snape replied. Harry believed him

"Well, you did hate my father," Harry shot back at him, crossing his arms over his chest. That seemed to have shocked Snape even more.

"I didn't hate your father either, in fact I envied him. I was also jealous. I always had a little crush on Lily, and when your father married her I was mad. Then I met her sister and everything changed. Your father saved my life. I could never hate him," Snape said, obviously understanding what Harry though. Harry stared at Snape for a moment then got up.

"See you at the next Quidditch game tomorrow then," Harry said, gathering all his books.

"I suppose so." Snape said. Harry walked out of the classroom a smile on his face. Hermione was waiting for him in the common room.

"You know Harry, I had hope. I had hope that Ron would just walk back in here and say it was just a joke. After what Pansy said I realized that he is not coming back Harry. He isn't coming back. Our best friend Ron is dead, and there is nothing we can do about it. I never even got to repay him." Hermione walked past him and out the portrait hole. Harry sat down, and Sugarfoot jumped up on his lap. A thought had just came to him. _If Riley could tell the future, why didn't she do something about this?_


	16. Pettroliama Cage

"That _is_ strange," Hermione said, during Transfiguration the next day. Harry was telling her about Riley's capabilities. He was trying to concentrate on his pillow that he was supposed to turn into a piece of parchment that said, _Hello my name is Harry_. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about Riley and Ron.

"Okay everyone, go off to your next class," Professor McGonagall told everyone. The classroom began to empty as Hermione walked up to McGonagall's desk.

"Professor?" Hermione whispered.

"Yes, Miss Granger."

"Has there been any news about Ron yet?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Professor McGonagall looked up at Hermione and sighed. Hermione turned around and followed Harry out the door, into the hall. The school seemed to be quieter, ever since Riley and Ron had been attacked. Fred and George weren't even getting into trouble anymore, which was hard to believe. The teachers even seemed less enthusiastic then usual. Ron's disappearance and Riley's death had taken a huge toll on everyone. At least one of the Weasleys was crying everyday, it was most often Ginny. Harry was sure there was nothing he could do. Hermione didn't agree. She was determined to save Ron, she felt that it was her job to save him.

Malfoy looked paler than usual as the days went on. Harry could tell he really liked Riley, more then he knew. Harry, who was usually very good at this stuff, was sure that there was nothing a couple of fifteen year old wizards, and witch, could do. Even Draco wanted to do something. He was saying that he wanted to kill Riley's killer as soon as possible. Everyday a new article or picture in the _Daily Prophet_ featured Ron and Riley. People were beginning to believe that Ron would never be found and no justice would come to Riley.

Snape still hadn't let his secret out to anyone. It seemed that the only people who knew about Snape's acquaintance with Riley, were Dumbledore and Harry. They all knew better than to say anything about it to anyone. Malfoy had decided to adopt Sugarfoot and Mittens, who now didn't have an owner. The students have seen them roaming around the halls every day. Even the owl went exploring throughout the castle. Sugarfoot seemed to follow Hermione everywhere she went. If you walked into the library, you would see Hermione and right next to her would be a small gray cat looking up at her. Harry personally thought it was rather funny.

The end of May was approaching, and there was still no sign of Ron. Almost everyone in Hogwarts had classified him as dead. Hermione had still not given up on him though. Her nights in the Common Room were spent looking through books for any clues available. Draco would search the castle whenever he got a chance for any sign of Riley. They both were disappointed when they still hadn't found anything. Hermione became very grumpy and Malfoy wasn't paying attention in classes at all. To make it all worse Hermione was annoyed at Harry for not helping.

"There is nothing you, Malfoy, and I can do!" Harry would shout.

"You know what, I think you are scared! Scared that your best friend might be dead. How are we ever supposed to find him if we don't try?" Hermione would answer. Harry knew in his heart that Hermione was right. The Ministry of Magic had stopped searching, assuming that Ron was dead. One day in transfiguration Harry made it perfectly clear that he wasn't as together as he seemed. Harry was staring at the ceiling, thinking, and Professor McGonagall noticed.

"Mr. Potter would you please pay attention," McGonagall yelled, hitting her fist hard on Harry's desk. Harry nodded lazily and Hermione kicked him from under the table. He let out a yelp and glared at Hermione.

"Potter is something troubling you?" Professor McGonagall asked, just realizing that that was a dumb thing to say. Harry exploded.

"Is something troubling me? What do you think? My life is just so easy, is that what you think? Well it's not! Both of my parents are dead and now my cousin is dead! Voldemort is after me!" everyone cringed at the sound of Voldemort's name, but Harry went on, " I have already witnessed one murder, last year I found out about a godfather that I never knew about, and he is on the run somewhere where I can't see him, and he is being blamed for something he never did! My best friend is also missing and I've got two other friends that are driving me crazy, and between all that I have finals in a week! Don't forget Quidditch! I've also got a secret that none of you know and that if I told anyone somebody in this school would have my head, and no McGonagall you don't know about it either. Now do you think my life is so easy?" The whole class stared at him, amazed. McGonagall opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Harry got up and gathered his books. After taking one last look at McGonagall, he left.

He heard footsteps following him. Hermione had her books in her hands and was walking towards him. She looked down at the floor and then back up at Harry. Malfoy came running up and he to looked down at floor. Harry started laughing and they both looked up at Harry and then at each other, with puzzled looks.

"Would you two stop that!" Harry yelled, still laughing loudly. He stopped and looked at them both frowning.

"I've checked every inch of this school, even the girls bathrooms." Malfoy said, turning slightly pink with embarrassment.

"I've looked through all the books that I could think of, but there was nothing useful," Hermione whispered. Harry thought for a moment.

"You haven't looked at the restricted section though, right?" Harry asked, looking at Hermione. She shook her head, and she seemed to perk up a bit. Harry turned to Malfoy.

"You haven't gone to the third floor, have you?"

"No, but we aren't allowed…" Malfoy broke off and smiled.

"Exactly," Harry said, "That would be the best place to store a missing person." Malfoy and Harry smiled, but Hermione frowned.

"I'm sure the teachers have checked though," Hermione said, seriously.

"Well, I guess we'll have to check it again!" Harry said, running down the hall toward the stairs. His shoes clicked as he ran and he could hear Malfoy and Hermione following him.

Once they got to the third floor they opened the door to Fluffy's room.

"Whistle!" Hermione hissed at Malfoy, who had seen Fluffy and was now backing away. All three of them walked in once they saw that Fluffy was asleep.

"That thing is scary," Malfoy whispered to Harry. Harry nodded and started to feel around the walls.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked as Malfoy kept whistling.

" I'm checking for a door. There must be one around here somewhere…" Harry stopped. A key was lying on the floor. It was gold, and seemed to have rusted. There was also a red mark on it that looked like a window. Hermione and Malfoy walked over, still whistling. Harry pointed and both of them opened their eyes wide. Hermione picked up the key and examined. She suddenly gasped. Still holding onto the key she started crawling on the floor. Not knowing what she was doing, Malfoy and Harry just kept on whistling.

Finally Hermione screamed.

"I've found it!" The boys walked over to her, unsure what she was talking about. Harry peered down to where Hermione was pointing. A very faint mark was scratched into the wood.

"That's the mark that is on the key!" Harry gasped.

"Yes," Hermione answered, " I know what this is. This is the mark of a Pettroliama Cage. They are hidden worlds. Often the feature a waterfall or cliff, it really is quite strange. For some people they can just walk in a Pettroliama Cage and just think they are in an ordinary room, but for others it is different. We have the key and you Harry so most likely we will be able to enter." She got up off the floor.

"Alright we need to think of what the password might be. Malfoy keep whistling." She said. Harry thought for a moment.

"Carrot cake," he said. Hermione gave him a sort of pathetic look and then went on.

"Pettroliama Cage," Nothing happened.

"The great lord returns," Malfoy said. The mark on the floor filled the room with light, then a silver door suddenly appeared. Hermione and Harry both stared at Malfoy, mouths open.

"My dad has worked with these things before. Usually when a person creates one they make their password after them." He said, looking rather happy with himself. Hermione glanced at Harry and then went to the door.

"Ready?" she asked, breathing in deep. Harry who was still whistling stopped.

"Yes, and lets go," Harry yelled, once Fluffy started to wake. Hermione burst open the door, and they all climbed in. Light came from all directions and they could hear water thrashing against land. The smell of seawater and rock filled the room, and a huge cliff was at the other end of this big sort of room. Harry heard Hermione gasp and he looked over to where she was pointing. A boy was lying on the ground. His flaming red hair was visible and his face was covered with dirt.

"Ron!" Hermione, Harry, and Malfoy all yelled.


	17. Lord Voldie

"Is he alive," Malfoy asked as they ran over to Ron. Hermione got there first and checked his pulse. She started to cry.

"I don't think so," she sobbed laying her head right next to Ron's.

"Hermione, what are you crying about now." They heard a voice say. Hermione's head snapped up.

"Ron, you're alive!" Harry ran up to Ron and smiled.

"I was wondering when _someone_ would come," Ron said sitting up, "I mean He-who-must-not-be-named, is not very good company." Ron stopped and started looking around.

"Did you guys bring any food?" Ron asked, cheerfully. Harry looked at Malfoy and they both grinned. Hermione slapped Ron in the head.

"Oh! Hermione what did you do that for?" Ron yelped rubbing his head. Hermione frowned.

"How could you be so happy? We have all been worried sick! _I_ have been worried sick!" Hermione yelled, slapping him again.

"Hermione stop!" Ron screamed. She got up, still frowning, and began to look around.

"How long have I been gone?" Ron asked, staring at Hermione.

"Two months," Harry said. Ron looked shocked.

"Really, it has only felt like a week," he said, getting to his feet.

"That happens in these things," Hermione said, as she came over. She nodded at Harry who knew what she wanted him to do.

"Ron," Harry said, "Riley's dead." Hermione looked at the floor and Malfoy looked away.

"What?" Ron asked, looking surprised. Then he looked straight ahead. His eyes became wide and he edged backward. Harry looked behind him and gasped. Hermione and Malfoy flew backward, and Hermione tripped over Ron.

"Welcome to my little home." A cold voice spoke. Voldemort stood there. His skin was pale and his eyes were glassy. He turned to Malfoy.

"Welcome Draco, have you come to join me?" Voldemort asked. Malfoy smirked.

"Of course my Lord..." Malfoy answered, walking forward. Hermione's mouth dropped open. Malfoy stood behind Voldemort, his hand in fists. Harry glared at Malfoy.

"I can't believe you! That's how you knew the password." Harry yelled. Malfoy's smile widened.

"No actually I just guessed on that," Draco answered, slyly. Harry heard Hermione and Ron scream. He glanced behind him and saw Hermione and Ron stuck to a black wall. Harry looked back at Voldemort.

"Why did you kill Riley?" Harry asked. He thought he saw Malfoy rub his eyes, but he decided he had just imagined it. Malfoy was always on Voldemort's side.

"I can't have her and her powers get in my way," Voldemort said, "So I decided to get her out of the way."

"Well you didn't do a very good job!" Everyone looked past Voldemort, and to the person who had spoke.

"Riley!" Hermione screamed. It was Riley, standing there looked angrier then Harry had ever seen. Voldemort was more surprised than anyone.

"Pettigrew killed you! I saw him do it!" Voldemort bellowed. Riley shook her head.

"No, actually he didn't. I think I should tell you the whole story." Riley said, " When I went to Harry's house over the summer I heard voices in my dreams, I saw images. They were mostly of James, Harry's father, and my mother. Some were also of Lily Potter and my mother Tracey, but some were not. Others were the future not the past. I have seen many events occur and this is one of them. I haven't seen all of what is going to happen only up to this minute. I have been planning this for months.

"Some things that have happened after Ron had gotten kidnapped were my doing." She turned to Harry, "When I heard Pansy talking about me I let my cat loose on her. I have been invisible for the past two months walking around the school. Mostly following Hermione, since she defended me and Ron."

"Wait how are you still alive?" Harry asked. Riley smiled.

"Polyjuice Potion," she said quickly, " I had months to make enough for a week. I lived because I wasn't even attacked. Lina Black was attacked. She and I had switched places for that week, just in case Voldemort came early. She agreed to help me. Don't worry she isn't dead. Pettigrews wand was broken. It only affected her for a couple of hours. Dumbledore also knew the whole time." Riley smiled.

"Smart little girl Riley," Voldemort said, "But your powers can't be useful know. Seeing the future or past won't do any good, neither will turning invisible." Ron suddenly screeched.

"Hey, Riley! Can you tell me who I was going to marry, since I'm gonna die soon," Ron asked. Riley turned her head quickly, and gave Ron the do-you-even-know-what-your-saying look.

"Ron this is not the time," she said, sounding impatient.

"Oh, please!" Ron yelled.

"Fine you're going to Marry Harry," Riley said, rolling her eyes.

"Really? Gross," Ron frowned.

"No you prat," Riley yelled, looking astonished, and "I was being sarcastic."

"Would you please just tell me?" Ron asked.

"Ron if you're going to die what is the point of knowing who you were going to marry?" Riley asked. Hermione and Harry both looked at Ron.

"Enough of this!" Voldemort screamed. He took out his wand and yelled a spell. Hermione fell to the ground at the edge of another huge cliff. Ron fell off the cliff.

"Ron!" Hermione screamed, looking over the edge anxiously. Harry suddenly got pushed over the edge by a gust of wind. Hermione got up and ran over to Hermione.

"I will kill you both now," Voldemort said, laughing. Riley sighed.

"Oh shut up Voldie, your glory days are over," Riley said, sounding extremely annoyed.

"Are you challenging me?" Voldemort asked, walking forward.

"Duh! How stupid can you be?"

"I would shut your mouth if I were you Riley."

"Really and who's gonna make me? You? That'll be the day, look how scrawny you are. Even Harry could beat you with one punch," Riley giggled.

"Riley I really don't think that is very smart," Hermione whispered. Malfoy stepped back.

"Draco, go see if those two boys are alive," Voldemort pointed to the cliff. Malfoy ran and jumped off the cliff. Voldemort ran behind the girls and Riley whipped around. Hermione did too. All three of them had their wands out, ready.

"You can't win! What is a muggle-born and a smart-mouth little witch going to do to me?"

"A lot! With help from us." Malfoy, Ron, and Harry stood behind Voldemort, their wands ready also. Voldemort turned around.

"Malfoy what are you doing. You're with me." Voldemort said, his voice trembling.

"It's called acting! Duh," Malfoy screamed.

"You and your little girlfriend are just the same. You're both smart alecks. Your father would not be happy with you," Voldemort spoke slowly.

"Are you his father? No, so I don't think you should be commenting Voldie," Riley said, turning around slowly. Voldemort pointed his wand at her.

"Shut up girl! Would you stop calling me Voldie," he screamed angrily.

"NO! I like calling you Voldie, so deal with it, or pick a different evil name thing. I never really liked Voldemort anyway," Riley said back, putting her hands on her hips. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Malfoy exchanged amused faces. Suddenly, Voldemort sent a curse Riley's way. Riley lifted up her hand and shot the same curse back at Voldemort. The curse hit Voldemort harder and he flew backward. It didn't have any effect on either of them.

"Dude, you seriously need counseling. That might work out some of your problems," Riley said, smiling down at him. Malfoy stepped next to her. Voldemort suddenly disappeared.

"He'll be back," Harry said, looking down at the spot where Voldemort had been.

"I'm going to dinner," Ron said, "I need food." He ran to the door that had suddenly appeared. Hermione and Riley smiled and walked out the door toward Ron. Malfoy stayed behind to wait for Harry.

" I will be back for you Harry Potter, and your little friends!" Voldemort's voice reached his ears. Harry smiled, and as he started to walk out he said,_ I'll be ready._


	18. Ron's Food and Much More

All five of them walked down the hall towards the Great Hall where Dumbledore would be setting up. As they walked nobody looked at each other.

"Thanks for coming to save me," Ron whispered. Harry and Malfoy heard this.

"No problem man," Draco said playfully punching him in the shoulder.

"We've been trying to find you for two months and none of us would stop until we found you," Harry said. Riley turned and smiled at all three of them and then went to talk to Hermione, who was half way up the hall.

"You can't hide it anymore Hermione," Riley spoke quietly, so the guys couldn't hear her.

"Can't hide what," Hermione asked. Riley sighed.

"That you _like_ Ron," Riley said laughing. Hermione gave Riley a stern look.

"Yeah I like Ron just not like _that_." Riley rolled her eyes as Hermione said that.

"You know what, you both seem to be the only ones that don't realize it. He obviously likes you and visa versa," Riley said, now sounding very impatient. Hermione didn't say anything because Ron ran through them, then Harry and Malfoy walked to either side of them.

"Wait Ron don't go in there yet!" Harry yelled. Ron stopped right in front of the Great Hall doors.

"So whatcha talking about?" Malfoy asked, putting his arm around Riley's shoulder.

"Hermione and Ron," Riley said.

"Oh ya, that," Harry and Malfoy said together. Hermione threw up her arms.

"I don't like him like that, and he doesn't like me like that!"

"Hermione it is so obvious, especially on your part," Harry answered. Hermione stomped up to the door next to Ron.

"They are both in denial," Riley exclaimed, smiling. Malfoy and Harry nodded their heads, yes. They approached the door. Harry took a deep breath and pushed the door open. To his surprise the whole school was eating.

"Were we really there that long?" Harry whispered to Malfoy, who looked as shocked as Harry. They started to walk in and everyone looked up. Some girls gasped as Ron entered the room, followed by Riley. Everyone was whispering and the whole room filled with sound.

"Silence!" Dumbledore yelled, standing up, "All of you come up here." Harry, Riley, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy walked up to Dumbledore. He motioned to a room that was right next to the table. They all followed him inside.

Fifteen minutes later they emerged from the room, feeling tired and hungry.

"Food!" Ron screamed running to the Gryffindor table, where Ginny, Fred, and George awaited him. Ginny hugged him and started crying again. Fred and George were slapping him on the back. Fred and George went and sat down and told him to sit in the seat next to his. Ginny wouldn't let go of him.

"Please can someone explain to me why girls are like this. I mean I'm not dead," Ron said trying to pry Ginny off him. That comment even made Ginny cry harder.

Many students were crowding around Riley and Ron, asking them question after question. A lot of the students were moving to the Gryffindor table and taking all the seats. Hermione didn't have a seat. She sat down on the floor. Ron looked up at the teachers who were writing letters, talking, and trying to calm things down. Nobody payed attention to Hermione.

"Um, Hermione," Ron said, blushing, " You can take my seat." Hermione smiled and Ron got up. Just as he stood up Mrs. Weasley ran in crying madly.

"Uh oh," Ron whispered to Harry, who laughed.

"RON! MY BABY YOU'RE ALIVE! I THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN! WHO FOUND YOU?," Mrs. Weasley cried. She hugged Ron so tightly, that he looked like he was about to burst. When she asked who had saved him, Ron pointed to Harry, Riley, Malfoy, and Hermione. Mrs. Weasley ran over to Hermione and Harry and got them in a hug, and then moved to Riley and Malfoy. She then ran back over to Ron, and started kissing him on the cheeks.

"YOU'RE ALIVE! MY BABY RONNY! OH I MISSED YOU! CAN I GET YOU SOMETHING SWEETHEART?" she asked. Ron said no. Mrs. Weasley went up to talk to Dumbledore as the rest of the Weasley family entered.

"Ron, my boy, you're alive!" Mr. Weasley came over and also hugged Ron. Then Bill, Charlie, and Percy did also. They all went up to hear the story of what had happened. Hermione went and got a chair, while Ron was receiving hugs. He sat down next to Hermione and they started talking about school, and what he missed.

"Riley was bringing me down some food and she was also bringing me books," Ron said, as he ate his mashed potatoes. Riley was giggling, and Hermione sent her a sharp look.

"Everyone, settle down," Dumbledore yelled over the noise, "I know you are all wondering what happened, and why Riley is alive. I will tell you that I knew Riley was alive and her mother knows that as well. Riley and Lina Black used Polyjuice potion to save Riley and luckily Lina didn't get badly hurt. I'm sure that Ron, Riley, Harry, Hermione, and Draco will tell you all that happened, so I don't need to say anymore." He sat back down.

All the teachers came down to talk to Riley and Ron. Professor McGonagall came up to Harry.

"I'm sorry about what I said Potter," she said. Harry smiled.

"That's ok Professor, I shouldn't of exploded like that," Harry answered. Professor McGonagall smiled also and walked towards Ron. Snape came down and asked to speak to Riley in private. Ron, Hermione, and Draco eyed him and then turned to Harry.

"I wonder what he's telling her." Hermione said, trying to see over a group of seventh year's heads.

"Oh I know," Harry told them. They all stared at him.

"What is he saying?" Draco asked, coming closer.

"Snape is Riley's father," Harry answered, taking a bite of key lime pie. Harry turned to look at Riley. She looked shocked...more shocked then any of her friends.


	19. The Best Goodbye

"I can't believe we won the house cup and the Quidditch cup!" Ron yelled as they walked toward the Gryffindor tower, after getting told who won.

"Hey! Wait for me and Riley," Hermione screamed. Harry and Ron looked over their shoulders as Riley and Hermione ran up behind them.

"I can't believe we're leaving tomorrow," Riley said, frowning, "I mean this has been my best year of school yet!" She broke in between Harry and Ron and put her arms around their shoulders. Hermione was walking behind them, once again looking lonely.

"Come on Hermione," Harry said, motioning for her to come over. They all reached the common room and went their separate ways. Ron and Harry turned right and Hermione and Riley went left.

"You're coming to my house over the summer aren't you?" Ron asked, as they put their pajamas on.

"Yeah," Harry answered. Harry looked at Ron who had just gotten into bed. Ron saw Harry, who was starting to laugh.

"What?" Ron asked, looking around.

"Can't you tell what I'm thinking?"

"No. Wait… yeah Hermione is coming."

"You asked her before me."

"Yeah, so?" Ron said spreading out his blanket. Harry started to laugh again.

"Ron, you are so blind," Harry said, as he put his pillow under his head. Ron sat up for a moment then lied back down.

"Riley?" Hermione whispered, once everyone else went asleep.

"What?" Riley grunted, sounding tired.

"Do you really think Ron likes me?"

"Duh, isn't it obvious to you?"

"No."

"You are blind Hermione."

The next morning the Gryffindor tower was noisy. People were screaming that they couldn't find their bags, and that they lost their wands. Nobody had much time for good-byes. That was what the Hogwarts Express was for( except for transportation.) Hagrid came to help with Harry, Hermione, Riley, and Ron's bags. Civilians were walking around the train watching the students get on. Many who had read the Daily Prophet were pointing at Riley and Ron, and whispering. This made Ron blush and Riley was hiding behind her purse.

They all boarded the train and found an empty compartment. After fifteen minutes Riley went to sit with Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle for a while. She left and the compartment got quiet.

"What was it like being stuck in that Pettroliumama cage?" Harry asked Ron.

"Pettroliama Cage," Hermione cut in.

"Whatever, it was weird. Sometimes it was a waterfall environment, and then it turned to a desert landscape, the ocean, and a lot more. Once it was even the rain forest kind of thing." Ron said, eating a chocolate frog. Hermione nodded, knowingly, and Harry's eyes became wide. They sat quiet for a moment then Hermione said something.

"Ron can I ask you a question?" Hermione shot Harry a look that clearly said GO AWAY! Harry got up and walked out.

"I'll be right back," Harry said smiling. Once he got out he ran down the train to the other Weasley's compartment. Fred, George, and Ginny all got up and ran out with him. Then Harry stopped at Riley's compartment.

"Hermione's about to ask the question," Harry said. Riley smiled and got up quickly. Draco also got up and they all hurried to the door. All of them were outside the door at an angle where Ron and Hermione couldn't see them. Hearing was no issue.

"Do you like me," Hermione asked.

"Duh, you're like one of my best friends," Ron answered dumbly. Ginny giggled.

"The idiot," George whispered to Fred. Harry peeked into and saw Hermione breathe in deep.

"No Ron. I mean really like me," Hermione said. Ron seemed to understand.

"Um… I," Ron stuttered. Hermione looked hopeful.

"Say yes! Come on Ron you can do it!" Riley whispered. Everyone in that hall seemed really anxious. Draco was trying to look over Harry's head, into the compartment. A blond third year girl passed them and gave them mean stares. Fred stuck his tongue out at her.

"A little." Ron finally answered. Harry laughed. They all shushed him. Draco was silently complaining.

"Ron where did you come up with that? A little," he said angrily. Harry turned to him.

"How

would you feel if you got put up in that position?"

"I marched right up and asked Riley."

"That's true," Harry said looking back at Ron. It was now Ron's turn to ask a question.

"What about you?" Ron asked Hermione, trying not to look at her.

"What?" Hermione answered. Ginny was now getting impatient.

"Now Hermione's being dumb," she said.

"I think it's cute how nervous they're getting," Riley exclaimed.

"I think it's pathetic," Draco said. Riley glared at him.

"That's enough out of you! When you asked me out you were acting just like him," Riley boomed. Draco's face went a little paler than usual, as everyone started laughing at him. Harry told them to be quiet, Ron and Hermione were still talking.

"Yeah I do," Hermione said looking at the floor.

"I like you a lot too," Ron answered. Riley and Ginny both started giggling, as the boys were acting out barfing.

"Aw, that is so cute," Ginny and Riley both said at the same time. Fred and George disagreed.

"I think I'm going to hurl!" George whispered.

"Where does he learn this? Certainly not from us," Fred exclaimed, looking disgusted. Harry looked back in at his two best friends.

"I've wanted to say that for a while, it wasn't that hard," Ron suddenly laughed, along with Hermione.

"Yeah me too," Hermione agreed. Harry knew what was going to happen.

"Guys I think they're going to kiss! Come look!" Everyone stopped and scrambled to get a good view.

"Come on kiss! We need some entertainment," Harry said, hoping they would do it fast.

"Harry, you can't rush these things," Riley said, looking at Harry.

"You shouldn't be talking Riley, you don't like things slow," Draco whispered. Riley, looked at him with a look of astonishment. She slapped his arm. He yelped in pain.

"We'll settle this later," she said moving forward. Draco who was still clutching his arm did the same. Ron and Hermione were saying some things no one could hear and they moved their faces closer together. Finally they kissed, long. Everyone clapped. Fred and George were saying, that a boy, and Riley kissed Draco on the cheek. They all got quiet again, awaiting the reaction.

Ron couldn't believe what had just happened. Hermione and him had just kissed. Hermione was smiling and he found himself doing the same. He laughed quietly, and then heard something. He looked at the door and saw his brothers, Harry, Riley, Draco, and Ginny looking in laughing. Harry saw him and stopped laughing. Ron got up out of his seat.

"Harry!" Ron bellowed as he slid the door open. They all got up and ran. Ron ran after them, followed closely by Hermione. A dead end came and all the eavesdroppers were forced to hide behind each other.

"Did you see everything?" Hermione asked. Ginny nodded, and Harry looked down.

"Yeah! You the man Ron!" Fred and George said at the same time.

"You the man Weasley!" Draco screamed. Riley elbowed him, as she had done so many times.

"Was this your first kiss?" Ginny asked shyly. Hermione nodded yes.

"Sorry it had to be with my brother," Ginny said giggling. Ron glared at her. Harry would not of had this any other way. Finally he could tell Hermione and Ron were going to get along, _very_ well. At that moment Harry realized that his luck had changed for the better.

* * *

Hey everyone! That was the last chapter of **The Riley Evans Trilogy: _Part 1_: The Other.** If you enjoyed the first part, please read Part 2: The Forgotten Curse! Thanks everbody! Happy reading! 


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